Barcelona president Joan Laporta spoke to the press on Friday to give further details on the bombshell announcement from Thursday that Lionel Messi will not continue at the club. Laporta reiterated that the financial state of the club made it impossible to keep Messi, and that La Liga’s salary cap rules didn’t allow Messi’s new deal to be registered.
Laporta blamed Josep Maria Bartomeu’s regime for creating a wage bill that is higher than all of the club’s income, and made it clear that allowing Messi to leave was a necessary step to begin turning the finances around.