Laporta: "I'm not willing to 'mortgage' the club for 50 years for anyone"
The president expressed his sadness at the situation, but said the decision has been made with the club's best interests in mind
Joan Laporta has justified Lionel Messi's departure by saying that the club cannot afford to put its future at risk: "The reasons why we have reached this point are very clear: the club's current financial state and the size of Messi's contract", with reference to the club's salary cap imposed by LaLiga.
With regards to the club's exorbitant wage bill, he described the management of the previous board as "calamitous". On the situation, Laporta said "I am not willing to 'mortgage' Barça's rights for half a century for anyone. I am sad, but I'm convinced that we have done what it right for Barça".
He added: "I don't want to create false hope. There was a deadline [for negotiations], because LaLiga is starting soon and because Leo needs time to consider the offers that he has on the table. He has received proposals from other clubs", he confirmed. "We were very grateful to Leo because he had initially agreed to be paid 2 years' salary spread over five years. We thought that this would be deemed acceptable by the current financial fair play rules [in Spain], but these kinds of things aren't accepted here". He stated that a new contract had been negotiated, drawn up and agreed upon, but the club were prohibited by the current rules.
On Messi, he said "We will be eternally grateful to him. He deserves the very best. He has demonstrated his love for the club, but Barça needs to come before the best player in the world. Today marks the beginning of a new era".
