Lionel Messi has had enough. According to Cadena Ser, the top goalscorer in Barcelona history has stopped the ongoing negotiations to extend his current contract with the Camp Nou giants, due to expire at the end of June 2021.
In our latest The Barcelona Podcast, I explained the reasons why Messi has been unable to lead Barca to Champions League glory since 2015, and the actions club president Josep Maria Bartomeu should take immediately to find urgent solutions.
Listen to The Barcelona Podcast here:
Messi will be 34 years old in the summer of 2021. By anyone’s standards, that would be a more than reasonable age for a player to step away from the highest footballing level and look for their last big contract away from the spotlight.
However, Messi is no ordinary footballer and has earned enough money in his career to have absolute control over his future.
Personally, I struggle to envisage what Barcelona would look like without Messi, and that is precisely the key problem here: Bartomeu has not done enough to ensure the team’s long-term sporting sustainability and, what’s worse, this hasn’t been caused by prioritising current success instead.
Barcelona are a club in deep turmoil at every level. Sporting success does not seem likely due to poor squad reinforcements in recent years, lack of playing time for La Masia graduates and an alarming excess of player power which impedes coaches from translating their ideas into reality on the pitch.
Add an ongoing failure to support managers (both publicly and behind closed doors) and the club’s progressively weaker financial position and you have the recipe for the frustrating mess that Barca are in today.
When speaking on The Barcelona Podcast, I usually try to be optimistic about the club’s situation, even during hard times. If you listen to our latest episode, however, you will soon realise that trying to find any positives is almost impossible given the current situation.
Messi has always argued that his final wish as a professional would be to play for Newell’s Old Boys, his boyhood club in Argentina. Their vice-president, Cristian D’Amico, would obviously be open to the idea:
“I don’t know if it is impossible. It is all up to him and his family. As directors, we have to provide the best context possible to help him make a decision. When Maradona came to Newell’s nobody thought he could come. I hope that something similar can happen with Leo.”
“Obviously we shouldn’t be making things up, this is a delicate subject. What Newell’s fan doesn’t dream of seeing the world’s best player in their team’s colours? Time will tell, maybe, we have to stay calm.”
Honestly, it is impossible to predict whether Messi will end up leaving Barcelona after the end of next season. I sincerely hope our Number 10 doesn’t as, clearly, his return in terms of goals and assists is incredible, even at 33 years of age.
Having said that, I totally understand his patience running out after years of poor management, poor squad reinforcement, constant stories from within the dressing-room being leaked up to the media and, ultimately, far too long without a good enough set-up around him to have a real chance to win the Champions League – the ultimate price in club football.
