Figo > Lazio ?

Jose Veiga, Figo's agent puts it this way "There is an 80% chance that Figo will leave". He only wants to get Figo out. It makes me very sad to see this happening. Veiga does not even want to negotiate with anyone at Barca. I love Figo. I just can't see us without him. But once i step back from my emotional tantrum and then see things from a footballing view, I realize that our new system probably will not fit for Figo. I see it this way. If he goes to Lazio, we may end up getting players, I would like to get Nesta, Veron, De La Pena + money for him. I would also like to see Barca use part of the transfer fee to get Zizou, the man to play in the free midfielder role in SF new system. Footballers come and go, I realize that. It is a business. But Figo is more than a player. He is a symbol for our team. I hope he stays. He's too brilliant. I read in Mundo Deportivo that Figo said he wants to talk to Barca, but he doesn't know who to talk to. I hope he waits until the elections to make his decision.

Barça's reaction:

Barça reacted stating Figo's contract. It appeared the transferfee of 60 million Euro was only for Spanish club, and since Lazio is Italian, they have to pay a fee twice as high: 120 million Euro. But the fact remains: there's no place really "his" in SF's new system. And about the salary: Figo and Barça agreed to this wage. Paulo, you will agree with me Figo won't suffer any difficulties with a salary of 25000 pounds a week. And if Kluivert has a (better) manager able to let Barça agree with a 60000 pound/week deal, what the f*ck has Figo to do with it? When Figo signs a new contract, it'll be way higher than Kluivert's. Not because he's better (he is, but that's not the major part in this case), but most of all because of the inflation on the playermarket. And that will always be like that.

But if Figo leaves.... we may thank Johan Cruijff very very much... He signed Figo, and payed around 2.5 million Euro for him What a profit!

I have my own theory. I see this as a ploy by Veiga and Figo to get him the contract of his life with Barca. I really don't think he wants to go but he is making a convincing attempt to make it seem so. I think he is just trying to pressure his way into a higher contract. This is the perfect time. After such a great season in Spain and Europe, his great display so far in Euro 2000 and the elections this July have all set things up for big contract time. The first two are bringing suitors from all over Europe for his signature. The latter comes into play since the candidates all will have holding on to Figo as part of their platform for the election. Whoever gets elected promising to sign Figo will certainly do so for fear of losing the backing of the socios by doing otherwise. This means BIG BUCKS for Figo. Smart plan if you ask me. It's all a big business!