Barcelona had exceeded La Liga’s wage limit towards the end of the last season (2020-21) and as result, they have been the talk of the town for the last few months. They have signed four new players ahead of the next season but are yet to register them due to their wage bill issue. The biggest concern for Barca fans was the fact that La Pulga (Messi) was a free agent for the first time in his career and could move to any club of his choice. The La Liga president had already warned the club that they couldn’t re-sign Messi without reducing their wage bill.

Things have started to fall in place for the Catalan giants as they have sold a few players (Junior Firpo, Jean-Clair Todibo, Carles Alena and Juan Miranda) and have agreed to a new contract with Messi. As per the latest football news, Messi is set to sign a new five year deal with Barcelona with a significant wage cut. The wage cut is expected to be around 50% and his contract will run until 2026.

Messi has been a part of Barcelona for as long as we can remember and he has been one of the major reasons for their success over the years. Barcelona without Messi will not just harm the club but will also significantly reduce the interest of people in La Liga. There will be a significant drop in viewership, television rights, sponsorship, etc. A similar kind of drop in the viewership was seen post-2018 after Ronaldo left for Italian giants Juventus.

The Messi situation seems sorted but there is a lot going on at Barcelona apart from La Pulga’s new contract. Barcelona are yet to register Aguero, Depay, Emerson and Garcia, their four new signings ahead of the upcoming season. They still require financial stability and are looking to achieve it by selling Griezmann to Atletico Madrid.

Sports journalist Fabrizio Romano wrote on his Twitter that both Barca and Atletico are in advanced talks for a swap deal that will include Saul and Griezmann. Both the players have agreed to be involved in the swap deal. The clubs are now discussing the fee that will be involved in the deal. Barcelona will prefer Saul + 20/30 million euros to cover up all their financial issues.

The Saul and Griezmann deal will help them achieve financial stability and they will be able to register their new signings within time ahead of the upcoming season.