Messi's new deal with Barcelona may not take place until January as club faces cash crunch

The COVID pandemic has resulted in a massive cash crunch in football amongst the biggest football clubs of Europe. Surprisingly, Barcelona, who is known to offer some of the most expensive contracts in the world, are also victims of this crisis. According to recent reports, Barcelona may not be able to register a new deal with Lionel Messi until January.

Barcelona unlikely to offer Lionel Messi new deal until January

Barcelona's need to reduce their salary bill may result in a major setback as they may not be able to offer club legend, Lionel Messi, a new contract until January. According to ESPN, the Catalans must reduce their spending to ensure they comply with LaLiga's spending limits for the next season. Moreover, if they are unable to do so, they also risk not being able to register new signings Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia or Emerson Royal.

Ronald Koeman's side has until the end of the transfer window on August 31 to submit Messi's new deal and their new signings to LaLiga. In this case, Barcelona would be unable to get their finances in order, and Messi will not be able to play until at least January, as happened with Getafe midfielder Pedro Leon in 2014. LaLiga president Javier Tebas has made it clear that he will not relax the rules for Barcelona.

Barcelona could offload Griezmann to give Messi a new contract

Although Barcelona has begun to offload players to reduce their club wages, they are yet struggling to get rid of their big earners. The fastest way to perhaps reduce their wage bills is to offload Antoine Griezmann. Although there have been discussions between Griezmann and Atletico Madrid for a potential return, it is understood that the negotiations have stalled. It is believed that even though Griezmann is interested in returning to Atletico, he will not want to take a wage cut.

The other potential candidates that Barcelona can consider offloading are Phillipe Coutinho, who earns about €24m annually and Neto, who earns about €6.5m annually. Meanwhile, the duo of Miralem Pjanic and Samuel Umtiti have been told that they do not have a future at the club. However, none are close to leaving yet.