TheCable

La Liga, organisers of the Spanish Premier League, on Friday, issued a short statement to deny claims by Jorge Messi, father of Lionel Messi, that the Barcelona captain no longer had a €700 million buyout clause in his contract.

Jorge, who doubles as Messi’s agent, had earlier issued a strong worded letter to La Liga wherein he insisted that the clause had expired.

Messi’s father had a two-day meeting with the club that ended in deadlock, with the club’s management insisting that he must pay the release clause of €700 million for his release.

In the letter, Jorge accused La Liga of making an error in their interpretation of the contract.

“We don’t know what contract they’ve seen and analysed to back up claims only the buyout clause is applicable even if the player decides to unilaterally terminate his contract after the 2019/20 season,” the letter read.

“This must be a major error on their part. As is written in the clause 8.2.3.6 of the contract signed by the club and the player:

“This compensation won’t be applied when the player has decided to unilaterally end his contract after the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.

“It’s obvious the compensation of 700 million euros, as mentioned in the previous 8.2.3.5 clause, can’t be applied at all.”

La Liga, however, fired a quick one-paragraph response to Jorge, stating the validity of the release clause.

“The €700m release clause exists and is absolutely valid,” La Liga wrote in a statement.

“Their interpretation of the contract is decontextualised and far from the literality of the same.”

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner, who has played for Barca for almost 20 years, recently informed the club that he wants to leave.

The 33-year-old also desires to link up again with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City for free.