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The Camp Nou coach believes that the incessant comments from the club’s ranks about the Argentine’s future are a useless distraction
Ronald Koeman has told Barcelona’s top brass to stop making public statements on the sensitive issue of Lionel Messi’s future.
The head coach spoke after interim president Carlos Tusquets said this week that the club should have sold Messi during the closing season.
The Barcelona presidential candidates have also spoken extensively about the 33-year-old Argentine, but Koeman believes it is pointless for such figures to fuel speculation.
At the same time, Koeman said at his press conference on Friday that the Barcelona fans would always want the best players at the club, in response to Neymar’s suggestion that he wanted to meet Messi again.
But when it comes to talking to the media about Messi, who is in the final year of his contract and his future plans are unclear, Koeman says the time has come for the comments coming from Barcelona to stop.
“We know the situation with Leo,” Koeman said. “If there is anyone who can say it, it is Leo himself, comments from outside do not interest me.
“If we do them within the club they do not help us to have peace of mind to do our job. We cannot control the comments from outside, from inside it is different.”
Barcelona plays Cádiz in La Liga on Saturday and is already well off the beat this season, with any distractions to the team’s harmony deemed very unhelpful.
Asked about Tusquets’ statements, Koeman said: “I respect opinions, but Messi must decide his future and I do not like comments in that regard.”
Koeman’s message was clear: that he will stay out of the presidential candidates and that they should avoid disrupting his job of leading the team.
“I have already said several times that I am not worried because I do not know what will happen in the elections,” he said. “When it’s known, we’ll talk. Until then, the best I can do is focus on the games.”
When asked about the possibility of Messi and Neymar playing on the same side again, Koeman expressed cautious enthusiasm.
The forward, who spent four years at Barcelona before Paris Saint-Germain terminated him from his contract in 2017 for 222 million euros (200 million pounds / 269 million dollars), said this week that he wanted to play at the same team as Messi next year. .
Koeman said: “I don’t like to talk about individual cases, but as a cule [a Barcelona fanatic] you want to see the best in your team. “
