Barcelona lost Messi in 2021 because they were €1.2 billion in debt and La Liga slashed their wage cap from €347 million to €97 million. The emergency fix was fielding children. Four years later those children won La Liga, and one of them carries a €1 billion release clause.
The cap crisis meant Barcelona couldn't register signings. Academy kids on entry-level wages were the only players they could afford to put on the pitch. So Lamine Yamal debuted at 15 years and 9 months. Pau Cubarsí debuted at 16. Gavi, Pedri, Balde, and Casadó all got minutes a healthy club would never have risked on teenagers.
Then the desperation play turned out to be the best roster strategy in football. Yamal joined at age 7 from CF La Torreta, a local youth club. Transfer fee zero. Barcelona turned down a €250 million bid for him. He made 106 senior appearances before turning 18. Messi made 9.
The cap math makes it even better. Real Madrid operates with a €761 million squad cost limit. Barcelona's is €432 million. They won the league anyway, because half the starting lineup was developed in-house at academy cost.
Messi's final Barcelona contract was worth over €500 million. His replacement cost nothing.
Those 11-year-olds in the video are the next batch. A pipeline that began as a bankruptcy workaround is now the entire plan.
"The people I pity this morning are all those elders in Rivers State who thought they were doing the right thing by standing up to Governor Sim Fubara."
"The people I sympathize with are those young men of Rivers State, the youths in particular, who came out boldly and said they did not want one individual known as Minister Wike, former governor, to be running their state from Abuja."
"The people I pity are the women of Rivers State, some of whom went onto the streets bare-chested, who were saying that the right thing must be done and that if a man has been made governor of his state, he should be allowed to exercise authority. Now, where have they been left?"
"Fubara has humiliated them. He has disgraced them."
~Dr Reuben Abati of Arise Tv
Just In: The DSS has arrested Samaila Ibrahim Kaigama following this interview on Channels TV, in which he boldly claimed to have evidence that Tinubu was paying Boko Haram and bandits, while also blocking media coverage of it.
"Why don't you approve requests for arrest warrants against heads of agencies ignoring our invitations?"
- Adams Oshiomole questions Senate President Akpabio.
Seems like Oshiomole finally wakes up from slumber.
H.E. Atiku Abubakar has tolerated Olusegun Obasanjo for too long. Obasanjo lied relentlessly to blackmail Atiku, all because Atiku stopped his third-term bid.
I think it is high time Atiku adopted a "fire for fire" strategy against Obasanjo since he clearly does not respect himself.
This gentlemanly style of politics that Atiku practices does not suit Nigeria, even though I understand it is his personality and moral upbringing that make him a gentleman.
I have since realized that Atiku is too clean and gentle for Nigerian politics. He is a good man to the core.
“I Will Slap You! Are You Okay? If You Were Igbo, I Would Have Detained You.” Tense Altercation Between Some Police Officers And a Nigerian Who Had Just Returned From The UK After He Refused To Bribe The Officer
This is really. So if he Igbo, he would have slapped him?? Omo.