Barcelona runs the risk of not registering Messi if he does not reduce his salary limit

La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned Barcelona that they run the risk of not being able to register Lionel Messi next season if they do not lower their salary limit.

Messi’s contract expires in nine days, and he has yet to make a public decision on whether to extend his 20-year relationship with Barça.

Club president Joan Laporta remains optimistic that Messi will sign new terms at the Camp Nou, but Tebas said Barça must ensure they stay within the league-imposed salary cap.

“Barcelona has exceeded their salary limit, I hope they can stay with Messi, but to do so, they will have to make cuts elsewhere,” said Tebas.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Barça had the largest capitalization in the top flight in Spain in 2019-20 with 671 million euros.

However, the new La Liga cap for the 2020-21 season was € 382.7 million. The Catalan club had some leeway in terms of reducing salaries, but that meant they were unable to register Memphis Depay despite agreeing on a fee with Lyon last September.

The League could technically prevent them from signing Messi’s new contract or signing up new signings this summer if they don’t adhere to certain financial regulations.

Messi’s most recent four-year deal, signed in 2017, was worth more than € 500 million, including his annual salary, subscription fees and bonuses.

Barça’s salary mass has grown since the end of the season with the signings of Eric García, Sergio Agüero, Emerson Royal and Depay.

Meanwhile, they are struggling to switch to some of the club’s top earners, including Samuel Umtiti and Philippe Coutinho.

Barcelona still have hopes of selling out players like Umtiti and Coutinho, while Martin Braithwaite, Junior, Neto, Miralem Pjanic and Matheus are other names facing an uncertain future at the club.

Tebas, however, said that Messi’s renewal will be possible if Barça, whose gross debt amounts to almost 1.2 billion euros, take action this summer.

“The seriousness of the situation depends on the resources that they are capable of generating. Barça has to restructure its debt. If he succeeds, the situation will not be serious.

“But they have pushed their wage bill to the limit. And when football has coughed, or rather, a lung has been punctured, they have not wanted to absorb that loss of income. They must take action, “Tebas said.

“Of the 700 million euros lost (in La Liga), half goes to Barcelona. There are other big clubs that have made a greater effort to avoid it. Real Madrid have made a commendable effort so that their losses are not the same as Barça, which takes the trophy for defeats ”.

On Sunday, Barça members approved a € 525 million loan from Goldman Sachs to help the club through a difficult financial period.

Laporta said the money would not be used for transfers, but rather to pay outstanding debts such as player salaries, transfer fees and money owed to the tax office.

The loan can be repaid in 15 years and has an interest rate of 3%.

ESPN revealed in May that Barça had taken an advance on the loan, before the members approved it at the general assembly, to ensure they could make salary payments before the end of the season.