Messi’s new contract is reportedly worth $27 million per season, and that could climb to $34 million with added incentives related to his commercial deals through the club. The package will surpass, some say, what Cristiano Ronaldo’s earns with Real Madrid, though no one really knows for certain.

The arrival of Enrique was also no surprise to any insider at the Camp Nou.

Bartomeu told me in April that it would not be sensible, or decent, to discuss the appointment of a new coach while Martino still had the chance to win La Liga. But if Martino left, I asked, does Barcelona have candidates in mind?

Bartomeu smiled. It was the duty of the board to have a plan. Any new coach would have roots in Barça, in its playing ethos, in everything that the club stands for. And to quash the rumor that Guardiola was considering a comeback, the president suggested that the man they had in mind was already in Spain.

Enrique, a contemporary of Guardiola as both a player at Barça and a trainer of the B team, was the only name. And until Monday, it remained an unspoken name.

But Enrique, a warrior in the midfield when he played, had already served notice that he would leave Celta Vigo, which he coached with a style that replicated Barça’s, albeit without the fantastic qualities of Messi, Neymar, Andrés Iniesta or Xavi.

There are many parallels between Guardiola and Enrique, who is strongly wedded to tiki-taka. They both had to leave Camp Nou to serve an apprenticeship. They came back when it was their turn.

Tiki-taka is not dead, as the critics believe. What has been most remarkable is how the key players at Barcelona sustained their enthusiasm and health long enough to establish records that may never be equaled, while at the same time lifting Spain to the top of the world while barely having any summers off to take a breather.