Xavi talks to Messi every day and wants him back at Barça. They are friends and accomplices. Laporta is false with the player, to whom he promised the renewal and in the end he had no choice but to deny it, because against his will, his guarantor José Elías prevented it, advised by the then CEO Ferran Reverter, to whom the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, made it clear that he could not mortgage the club by submitting to the tyranny of the president of the League, Javier Tebas, who promised immediate money in exchange for losing 12% of Barça’s television rights to the CVC fund for 50 years. Laporta, who had everything tied up with Tebas, Roures and the Messis, had to back down. With his pitiful season, the Argentine has agreed with the deposed CEO, but in a populist like the current president of Barcelona, rational decisions do not always outweigh sentimental reasons. Messi is fed up with Paris. From the city and the team, who are not going anywhere. He wants to return to live in his house in Gavá. Money has ceased to be a stumbling block because the last big stick in his life has already hit the sheikh and now his peace of mind and that of his family weighs more on him. Laporta will drop hints, encourage rapprochements, but firmly he will not do anything at the moment; and he will keep Messi in his hat in case the Lewandowskis, Raphinha and company come out. Retrieving Messi makes him excited but he knows that sportingly it makes no sense, and that it could only function as a lifeline in the event that he ruins his new sports project. Laporta’s priority is to fire Piqué and Piqué already knows that they are going for him, and that if he wants to stay at Barça he will have to lower his salary considerably. Delays and other solitaire cheats will no longer apply. The player who asked the former president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, “to be the best paid center-back in the world” will have to agree with his decadent, misplaced reality and accept a salary reduction similar to the one accepted by Sergi Roberto, close to 50% percent of his remuneration. The following on the list are Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, but without so much acrimony. Laporta has the approval of Xavi, who despises the attitude of his former teammate on and off the pitch. Piqué’s departure would help Messi’s return in a certain way. They were the great enemies, in their rivalry to command the locker room. Piqué was the one who most encouraged Laporta to get rid of the Argentine and the one who, when he left, immediately went to the president to improve his contract. But despite the fact that Laporta’s determination is sincere, it is hard to believe that he has the firm hand that Florentino Pérez had with Sergio Ramos. It could very well be that his populist and sentimental background at the last minute would stop him, especially if the player willingly accepted the new conditions. On the one hand, Piqué was part of the team that with so many successes gave birth to his first presidency. On the other hand, although Laporta openly blames Bartomeu for the economic and sporting ruin of the club, he is well aware that ‘Geri’ and some of his teammates, Alba among them, behaved like authentic looters of the entity. To fuel the feeling that the center-back will be absent, the club takes the signing of Jules Koundé for granted. Days ago, with the same intention of teaching Piqué the exit and lowering the price of the Sevilla defender, Barcelona used the name of Íñigo Martínez. “He is practically tied”, they came to affirm, as in fact he was 5 years ago, in August 2017. Bartomeu reached a total agreement with the Basque center-back, but the squad made him back down to protect the leading role of the great friend of Messi, the Boss, Javier Mascherano. Those were times when the president of Barça was a rag doll in the hands of capricious and greedy players, with absolute and pernicious power in the club. To show his gratitude and his commitment to the entity, the Argentine central defender signed in January 2018 for Hebei China Fortune, just three months after a president of one of the most important clubs in the world ate a signing already closed to save the place. Piqué has the added family problem and Shakira has announced that she wants to live in Miami with her children. Some languages point out that the player, very worried, would be studying the possibility of signing for Inter Miami or any other team in the Soccer League. Related News opinion Yes A very well paid circus Salvador Sostres opinion Yes analysis Barcelona spends the future in a dubious present Salvador Sostres Jordi Alba , with a more discreet public profile but no less expensive for the club, given how much it costs and its questionable performance, is in a similar situation. Neither Laporta nor Xavi have such a manifest interest in him leaving, but his continuity is essential for an ax blow to his salary of the same magnitude as that which they will demand from Piqué. It is true that Alba does not have an obvious replacement but it is also likely that Xavi will play with a three-point line and will not need it. Busquets is a separate case. Although the club needs to lower his salary, it is still essential for Xavi, so that the approach that Laporta can expect to make will not be as harsh or as crude as that of Piqué and Alba. In addition, Busquets has a magnificent relationship with Messi, who would not only want him but would need him in the team if his return were to become a reality. With the enthusiasm generated by the new signings, Laporta has more room to get tough with what he thinks is not working, and more support from a crowd that has gone from defeatism justified by the disaster of recent seasons and the agonizing situation of the club, to an absurd and unfounded euphoria with the four movements, of very uncertain glory, that the president has made to liven up the roost. And if glory is against him, next rabbit that he has prepared.
