Argentine and PSG legend Lionel Messi has returned to Barcelona with his family this week. Messi left his childhood club last year after FC Barcelona failed to resign the legendary footballer for financial reasons. On Wednesday, Messi along with his family members arrived in Barcelona city for summer break.
The 34-year-old striker was gathered at Barcelona airport for photographs. Messi also had to sign trade goods as his wife Antonella and their three children went through ardent supporters. Footage of Messi greeting Messi at Barcelona airport has gone viral on social media. And fans couldn’t help but express their joy on Twitter.
Lionel #Messi landed at #Barcelona airport to spend the rest of his vacation. pic.twitter.com/IcexEjlUB6 – Lob Mukherjee (@lob_mukherjee) June 15, 2022
A Twitter user posted two pictures of Messi at the airport. The Twitter post was captioned, “From the arrival of the great Messi and his family in Barcelona.”
At the same time, another user wrote in the caption, ‘The king is back home. Messi is in Barcelona.” Another user shared photos of Barcelona fans greeting Messi at the airport. “PSG star Lionel Messi returns to Barcelona with family and fans at the airport for their summer vacation He is welcomed. Messi’s family is being warmly welcomed in the Catalan capital as he made contact with his family on Wednesday,” read the caption of the post.
Messi and his family arrive in Barcelona pic.twitter.com/oADNaHs1dt – LM 30 (@LM3087249530) June 15, 2022
Meanwhile, Barcelona on Thursday approved the sale of a minority of its licensing and merchandising division and up to 25% of the proceeds from their LaLiga TV rights season to improve their financial situation.
The club board hopes that with this they will be able to finish the financial year without any loss and increase their spending limit. Club president Joan Laporta said they expect to sell up to 49.9% of retail operation Barcelona Licensing and Merchandising (BLM) for 200-300 million euros and a minimum of 200 million each in 10% of LaLiga TV rights for 25 years.
The plan to sell the BLM received 89.3% support from 636 participants (only 14.2% of the club’s total representatives) in the referendum, while the TV rights deal received 86.8% support. “When we arrived last year, we found ourselves in a very complicated financial situation. We could not afford the May 2021 payroll. Investors were asking for 200 million euros which we did not have,” Laporta said Told the assembly.
“We believe that using club assets to create financial levers is the best way to get Barca back to be competitive again.”
Laporta said Barcelona had opted for a 1.994 billion euro investment from CVC Capital Partners with LaLiga in exchange for 11% of the TV rights over the next 50 years because they disagreed over the amount and length of the deal.
“We want to recover this property in 25 years. The (CVC) operation that was presented was collective and Barca has its own special value,” he said. “I’m in favor of helping but at this point we have to clean our house first.”
Laporta, who presided over one of Barca’s most successful tours between 2003 and 2010, was elected last year for a second term with the Catalan giants after the previous board resigned due to the club’s deteriorating finances and other controversies. He inherited a deep financial crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and was unable to re-sign Barca club great Lionel Messi, restricted by LaLiga’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, to Paris Saint-Germain last summer. as a free agent. Laporta said the club’s total debt in August stood at 1.35 billion euros, of which 673 million are owed to banks.
(with Reuters inputs)