Valladolid players look dejected like they missed out on a big bonus from an unnamed source Edit: my bad, didn't realize they just got relegated.
Well it is scary, of course, but only saying that IF Messi leaves (which I don't think will happen but who knows), it sort of makes sense to get the team younger and to get off some of the huge salaries we have. SUPPOSEDLY STAYING: 1396054122625998849 is not a valid tweet id That said, I read today that the club respectfully reached out to the agents for Pique, Alba, Busquets, and Roberto about re-doing their contracts from ground zero. Basically, the old wage structure doesn't work, and simply deferring your massive salaries to years in the future (as Barto did) doesn't work. We'd like you to stay but at a price we can afford in the pandemic/post-pandemic recovery period. 1396006955244687362 is not a valid tweet id In terms of the older players, now that Messi is seemingly staying. Alba and Busquets gave us the most this year, but each has also struggled at times. Working with the idea that we don't have money for flashy signings, it would be good to keep both at least one more season. See if Balde or Dest can back up Alba sufficiently well to be a starter in 2022-23. With Busquets, same idea, can Jandro, Nico, or Oriol Busquets fill in at DM? Or is there another midfield combo of de Jong, Pedri, Ilaix, Puig, those Barca B players which makes sense? Roberto - gone. Pique - one year to mentor Garcia, Araujo, Mingueza...
Well he gets alot of hate from fans but he is probably top 25 in all time appearances for Barca, and he earns 9.966M per season! And he is 4th Captain, so yes, heavyweight is not misplaced. Even if you prefer that he never start for Barca again.
Things like this is exactly why we have nosedived from being the best team in the world to being a punching bag in Europe. We need serious rebuild.