Barcelona’s strategic approach to rising star’s renewal to avoid a repeat of Messi-type situation | OneFootball

Barcelona’s strategic approach to rising star’s renewal to avoid a repeat of Messi-type situation | OneFootball

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Barca Universal

·17 gennaio 2025

Barcelona’s strategic approach to rising star’s renewal to avoid a repeat of Messi-type situation

Immagine dell'articolo:Barcelona’s strategic approach to rising star’s renewal to avoid a repeat of Messi-type situation

Lamine Yamal is the new face of this FC Barcelona side. Just 17 years old, the La Masia sensation has taken the world by storm and is undoubtedly one of the best young attackers in the game currently – as evidenced by his Golden Boy and Kopa Trophy wins in 2024.

Lamine has a contract with Barça until 2026, which the club are working to renew once he turns 18. While there is a pact with his agent, Jorge Mendes, to extend the deal until 2030, the Catalans wish to offer improved terms to reflect his meteoric rise.


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Barcelona to take a measured approach

However, while Barcelona are eager to offer an attractive contract to Lamine Yamal, they are suggesting a strategic approach to his wage increase in order to avoid a financial crisis by handing a Lionel Messi-type contract, reports AS.

When Joan Laporta returned as the president of Barcelona for his second term, one of the biggest challenges he was faced with was resolving the club’s financial troubles.

Upon reviewing the club’s figures, he was faced with the harsh reality that the Blaugrana could no longer afford Messi’s contract. Letting the club legend go was one of the most difficult decisions of Laporta’s second term.

However, the financial reality was that the figures Messi’s contract involved made renewing it unfeasible, even after he had agreed to a 50% pay cut.

Immagine dell'articolo:Barcelona’s strategic approach to rising star’s renewal to avoid a repeat of Messi-type situation

New contract on the horizon. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Laporta and his board have been working extremely hard to reduce the wage bill, which had spiralled out of control and was a significant burden on the club’s finances. There is a clear determination not to return to those excesses.

Learning from the predecessor’s mistakes

The case of Lamine is particularly delicate, as he is now seen as the club’s new superstar. The sporting management is fully aware that, sooner rather than later, he will need to become the highest-paid player in the squad.

However, they also emphasise that Lamine is still just 17 years old, and any improvements to his contract must be gradual to avoid repeating the financial mistakes of the past and triggering issues with financial fair play or inflated wages.

Barcelona are committed to scaling the economic growth of the teenager’s contract over time.

“You cannot give a 17-year-old €15 million net, because by the time he is 23, he could be demanding double that,” said sources from the club.

This is why the main task in the upcoming renewal is to convince Lamine and his camp that the best approach for both his future and the club’s sustainability is a gradual improvement in his contractual conditions, rather than a dramatic pay rise that could jeopardise the wage bill and the financial health of the club.

In the past, Barcelona were suffocated by astronomical wages (not just Messi’s) that were unsustainable in relation to the club’s income.

The pandemic ultimately dealt a fatal blow to the board under Josep Maria Bartomeu, which had chosen to live on the financial edge.

Laporta and his team have managed to reverse this situation, and they are determined not to make the same mistakes again.

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