Barcelona could not afford to keep Lionel Messi but Paris Saint-Germain have made their move for the 34-year-old and, while the cost of the deal may be astronomical, it is still likely to be a very smart bit of business if or when it goes through.
Barca – swimming in debt of 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) – ultimately found themselves in a no-win situation with their talisman.
Keeping him would have maintained salaries at an untenable 110 percent of revenue.
Even letting him go leaves that figure at 95 percent with the Catalan club a prime example of how living beyond one’s means eventually ends in the tears Messi shed Sunday in confirming his departure, Barca unable to defy financial gravity any longer.
An annual salary north of 70 million euros ($82 million) net per season, while breaking Spanish league salary cap requirements, was a price that made sense for Barcelona.