UAE and Qatar battle it out for Messi

Lionel Messi asked for the exit of FC Barcelona after the last fiasco of the Barcelona season, in which they were left without a League (won by their maximum rival, Real Madrid CF) and without a Cup, and in which they suffered a new blow in the Champions League with the historical 2-8 suffered against the German team of Bayern Munich.
Above all, the humiliating defeat against the German team was the trigger that accelerated Messi's decision to leave his lifelong club in search of a new adventure. Two powerful clubs on the European scene have shown interest in bringing him into their ranks, namely Manchester City, owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Paris Saint Germain, controlled by the State of Qatar. 

Messi wants to leave and there is speculation about the clause in his contract whereby he could supposedly go free without payment if he communicates his wish to leave before 30 June; something that has not been able to happen this unusual season, which has been prolonged by the impact of the coronavirus health crisis, which could lead to a new legal interpretation of this clause as the end of the season, always marked by the end of June in most contracts, has been modified due to force majeure. 

Although it is expected that the Argentine international and Barcelona reach an agreement to agree on a friendly match with a transfer to be paid by the team that signed him, which can be in money only with a high amount or with less money and the inclusion in the operation of players who could come to the Spanish team. 

Messi's contract termination clause is 700 million euros, in line with his level, but no club is going to pay that amount at present, and there is speculation of a negotiation to reach a significantly lower figure; also taking into account that the Argentinean star has supposedly made up his mind to leave and there may be no going back. 

The English and French squads want to win the Champions League, the best tournament in the world at club level, and have invested a lot of money so far without success, so they are looking for the best player today. Manchester City has only been able to reach the semi-finals, in 2016 when they were eliminated by Real Madrid (later champion of that edition). PSG, for its part, did finally reach a final in this difficult 2019-2020 season marked by the coronavirus pandemic and the earthquake caused in the world of football due to the reorganisation of calendars after the forced confinement suffered to avoid the spread of the pathogen; although they lost precisely the last match against Bayern that humiliated Barcelona previously and won their sixth European Cup title. 

The 'Cityzens' and Parisians, Emirates and Qatar, are opening a new page in their regional rivalry. Both Middle Eastern nations have been engaged in a fierce diplomatic confrontation since 2017, when the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a diplomatic and economic blockade on the Qatari country led by Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, whom they accuse of supporting cross-border terrorism, something denied by the Gulf monarchy. Furthermore, following this embargo, Qatar has recently moved closer to dangerous partners such as Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which are accused of threatening regional and world security owing to their belligerent international policies. Indeed, the Eurasian country participates actively in the civil wars in Libya and Syria, even sending paid mercenaries attached to groups linked in the past to terrorist organisations such as Daesh and al-Qaeda, as various media have revealed, and the regime of the ayatollahs interferes in the internal affairs of other nations through the Quds forces (international division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the elite corps of the Iranian army) and their links with Shia groups in those countries (such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hamas in Palestine or the People's Mobilisation Forces in Iraq).

The political clash also shifted to the world of football, where the Emirates and Qatar have used their state investment funds to take control of teams from various leagues, the most representative being Manchester City in the English Premier League and PSG in French football.

Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, deputy prime minister of the UAE, is the visible head who has been leading the Manchester City project since the Emirate property entered the club in 2008 through the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment investment fund. From 2008 to date, the 'skyblue' club has won 14 new tournaments (compared to 12 in previous years since its founding in 1880), including the 2018-2019 poker season in which it won the Premier League, FA Cup, Super Cup and League Cup. Up to four leagues and two cups, as the most important tournaments, Manchester City has treasured in the last eleven seasons. However, the great pending subject is still the Champions League, which continues to be elusive for the team coached by the Spaniard Pep Guardiola, who arrived with the label of being one of the best coaches in Europe, but who has not yet been able to achieve the maximum European title for the British team. In the last few years, high level players have paraded through the City, such as Robinho, Sergio Agüero, David Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne, etc. But it has not been possible to achieve the desired European tournament. 

For his part, Nasser al-Khelaifi, president of Qatar Sports Investment, has led PSG in the offices since Qatari money entered the French club in 2011, the year after which top-level players began to arrive and have made the Parisian team the great dominator of Ligue 1 in France, but has not yet been able to win the Champions League. Players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham, Neymar (the most expensive signing in history after costing 222 million euros), Kylian Mbappé and Angel di Maria have swelled the ranks of the capital team, still without luck in the top European competition at club level. 

Now comes the desire to sign the best player in the world, Leo Messi, who wants to leave Barcelona, a situation that has been a real earthquake in the world of football and has mobilized two great rivals like Manchester City and PSG, or rather, as Emirates and Qatar.