Post-‘comeback’, in Messi we trust?

One would be unkind to look at Lionel Messi’s staying back at Barcelona FC as manipulative — the way, say, many high-performing employees (present company excluded) threaten to leave as a pay package-raising, literally promotional tactic.

But when after all these weeks of intense speculation that the Argentine footballer would be leaving the club he joined in 2003 (Vajpayee was then Indian PM), he announced last Friday that he will stay on for another season, even Barcelona fans were cynical.

In a poll conducted by Spanish sports daily Diario AS on Saturday, 61.6% of the 26,000 fans surveyed voted that they ‘did not agree’ with the No. 9 staying back.


It’s tough to blame them. Messi has explained that he can’t afford the humungous 700 million ($827.6 million, just under Samoa’s GDP) payout stipulated in his release clause.

So, he is staying on at Camp Nou for legal-financial reasons — not something that kindles much joy for Barça fans. The man is one of the top professionals on the planet.

But having reasons to ‘want out’ — the club unable to find the great support structure in teammates he had in the past like Andrés Iniesta, Xavi and David Villa, and (still) current compadre Luis Suárez who is also hunting for ‘greener pastures’ — will Messi have the same incentive to perform for his diminished club as before? Watch the 18-yard space.