Jorge Messi hits back at LaLiga; insists €700m clause not valid | OneFootball

Jorge Messi has hit back at LaLiga president Javier Tebas – claiming that official bodies have misinterpreted the reported €700m release clause in his son’s contract.

Lionel Messi wants to leave Barcelona this summer and believes he can walk away for nothing, due to a clause which allows him to terminate his deal and leave on a free transfer.

However, LaLiga issued a statement on Sunday (August 30) and confirmed that they are taking Barcelona’s side in their legal wrangle with the Argentine.

They believe that his current contract is valid until the end of 2020/21 and that the only way for him to exit will be if his €700m release clause is met.

But Messi SNR has been forced to correct their statement, stating that any release clause expired after the 2019/20 season – as opposed to 2020/21.

An official statement released on Friday claims:

1) We don’t know which contract has been analysed, and under which assumptions they consider there is a ‘release clause’ that applies to the player in case he chose to move forward with the unilateral extinction (sic) in it, with effect after the 2019/20 season is over.

2) This is a clear mistake on their (LaLiga) behalf. As the clause 8.2.3.6 literally points out in the agreement signed between club and player:

*This fee will not apply if the contract is unilaterally terminated by the player with immediate effect after the end of the 2019/20 season.

Reports began to emerge on Thursday that Messi was considering staying with Barcelona, after positive talks involving his father and club president Josep Maria Bartomeu took place.

But this recent statement confirms that both parties are far from seeing eye to eye.