Once a player decides he wants out, it's very hard for anyone to keep them there. The player's jeopardizes the team's chances, and that in turn affects finances. It's a lose-lose situation to keep an unhappy player. Barba made his position here untenable. Barba makes a decent amount of money here, and keeping him when he is not going to perform or even play is not a wise thing to do. That's what prevented her from not releasing him, and only a moron would think it was a good idea to try and keep him around when it was so clear it would not be the right move going forward.
You're acting like coaxing a player out a deal is an honourable act and an example of great CEO work. It's not. It's opportunism, with a large amount of tapping up involved. I'm sure if the circumstances were reversed and we were a team all alone in a city, we'd probably take that opportunity too. You're praising him for being in a position that is not available to us (CEO of a club in a 1 team city) and using that as leverage to make a judgement against our CEO.
Also, you contradicted yourself just a bit. You said she noted she had no control over the decision, but just a couple of lines prior to that you say that she had the final decision? You sure you know what you're talking about here?