BARCELONA: Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta repeated on Tuesday that negotiations with Lionel Messi “are going well,” less than a month before the Argentine star’s club contract expires.
“We are in talks with Leo’s representatives,” Laporta said at the official presentation of center-back Eric Garcia, who has joined from Manchester City, as a Barcelona player.
“I said it the other day, it’s going well and we hope they continue to make progress.”
“We want to agree a new contract with Leo. It’s going well, but it’s not done.”
Messi’s contract with Barcelona expires on June 30.
Laporta said signing Messi to a new contract did not depend on the outcome of an audit the club is carrying out to find out the exact state of its finances.
“We more or less already have the results for this year under control. This audit, when we finish it in July, will give us more data, but for this deal in particular, we had already made a provision, we had prepared a strategy,” Laporta said.
“I have always said that the Leo issue is not a money issue for his part,” said Laporta.
“He is showing a lot of understanding, and it is not a question of money, he wants to continue with this process and wants to have a competitive team with which to win Champions League and league titles.”
“None of the signings we are making are being made in relation to these negotiations. We know that Leo wants to stay, but he has other offers.”
Laporta drew a parallel with Garcia, saying the player, a free agent, had other offers but chose Barcelona.
“Leo is in a similar situation with his desire to play for Barca. I hope that will also be decisive.”
Messi negotiations ‘going well’, says Barcelona president
https://arab.news/rjgwf
Messi negotiations ‘going well’, says Barcelona president
- "We want to agree a new contract with Leo. It's going well, but it's not done," said Laporta
- Signing Messi to a new contract did not depend on the outcome of an audit the club is carrying out
PSG ordered to pay around 60mn euros to Mbappe in wage dispute
- PSG in turn had demanded Mbappe pay them 440 million euros
- The labor court said the final figure of between 60 million and 61 million euros
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain were ordered to pay their former forward Kylian Mbappe up to 61 million euros ($71.8 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses by a French labor court on Tuesday.
France captain Mbappe, who left PSG in June 2024 to join Real Madrid, had been claiming over 260 million euros in total from his former club.
PSG in turn had demanded Mbappe pay them 440 million euros.
Mbappe, 26, also claimed the Parisian club applied the wrong French legal classification to his contract, but that was rejected by the court.
The labor court said the final figure of between 60 million and 61 million euros was made up of 55 million euros in unpaid salary and around six million euros in holiday payments.
PSG did not immediately say if they intend to appeal.
Lawyers for Mbappe said in a statement they “noted with satisfaction the decision given by the labor court.”
“It re-establishes a simple truth — even in the professional football industry, labor laws apply to everyone,” the lawyers added in a statement.
The French club had said they were basing the figure they were claiming in part on a botched 300m-euro transfer to Gulf club which Mbappe refused in June 2023.
Mbappe left for Real Madrid on a free transfer when his contract expired the following summer.
He insisted he made no agreement in 2023 to waive any payment from the club.
Mbappe initially filed a complaint in June over the way he was treated by PSG at the start of the 2023-24 season.
Mbappe argues that he was sidelined by PSG and made to train with players the club were trying to offload after refusing to agree a new contract.
It is a widespread practice that in France prompted the players’ union to lodge a complaint last year.
Mbappe was not invited to take part in PSG’s 2023 pre-season tour of Asia and missed the first game of that season but was later recalled to the team after holding talks with the club.
After seven seasons with PSG he joined Real Madrid where he earns a reported annual salary of 30m euros.
Mbappe scored 256 goals in 308 games for PSG but the club won the Champions League for the first time last season following his departure.
