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Uncertainty about Messi’s future crystallizes around Barça’s key meeting with PSG on Tuesday
When Lionel Messi told his family last summer of his intention to leave Barcelona to play abroad, everyone involved in the conversation wept.
The move never materialized as the Argentine chose not to take the club to court after a high-profile dispute in which he felt his contract gave him the right to leave for free, a position disputed by the Catalans.
There is no release clause in the final year of his contract, so he could have left for free in January, but the 33-year-old has yet to make a final decision on his future. Although he has considered moving on a few occasions, he has never come this close to leaving the club he joined when he was 12 years old.
Back then, it was her decision to stay in Spain with her father, rather than return to Argentina, that ultimately tore her family apart. That choice changed life. The one you face now will not be as traumatic, but it will have big implications.
Uncertainty about his future comes to the fore this week when Messi leads Barcelona to a mouth watering knockout round of the Champions League against Paris St-Germain, a club that wanted him in the summer and whose interest has not waned.
Pressure exerted on Messi by PSG
As the PSG game draws closer, Barcelona have received constant messages from France about Messi’s future.
France Football magazine has published a mock image of Messi in a PSG jersey along with a great article detailing chapters and verses on all aspects of any deal that could lead the player to France.
Barcelona has accused PSG of showing a lack of respect, although the French club thinks that Barça’s position is a bit rich given its persecution – through the covers of the Catalan sports media – of players like Marco Verratti, Angel di Maria, Marquinhos and, in particular, the highly publicized (and now dead in the water) return of Neymar to Barcelona, potential moves also often publicly discussed by players and even Barcelona managers.
They would also point out that Messi is a free agent, so they have the right to make their move.
Neymar is another contributor and he wasn’t exactly sitting on the fence when he announced after PSG’s victory over Manchester United in the Champions League in December: “What I want most is to play. [Messi] again, to be able to enjoy being on the pitch with him again.
“He could play in my place. You won’t have any problems, I’m sure. I want to play with him again and I am sure that, next season, we have to ”.
Di Maria, Verratti and Leandro Paredes have also ventured to comment and even Leonardo, PSG’s sporting director, has said that they would try to catch him if he were to hit the market.
Messi has sent a very clear message to the media that he is not happy that many people, some of whom he considered friends, have been pressuring him to make a decision.
One complicating factor is that, with Neymar apparently agreeing to stay in Paris, Kylian Mbappé is now also changing his mind about leaving the club and will have to negotiate his contract this summer if he wants to.
His contract expires in June 2022 and PSG has indicated that they are willing to pay him roughly the same as they pay Neymar, which is about 37 million euros net, something that Real Madrid suitors cannot offer unless established an imaginative contract.
No one can guarantee what Mbappé will do next. So where does that leave Messi? Because if there is one thing that no one absolutely believes in, it is that there will be room for the three players at PSG.
Messi’s saga is also having an impact on the decision-making process at other clubs. Kevin de Bruyne is delaying his contract talks with Manchester City as he was not particularly happy with the City’s first offer and the impression he has, published by Belgian media he trusts, is that they are not offering him as much as they can afford. Perhaps because they keep that money in case Messi arrives.
Unhappy in the summer, how does Messi feel now?
When Messi sent the club the notice of his intention to leave in August via the now infamous burofax, he was exasperated. Since then, he has explained in one of the only two interviews that he has given that it was the only way he could get the club’s attention.
He told Goal.com’s Rubén Uria that he had been trying to tell them his intention to leave for months, but to no avail. Putting it in writing was the only way for the club to find out.
Messi knew that his contract stipulated that if he wanted to leave he had to inform Barcelona at the end of last season. He submitted his transfer request on August 25, with the season still ongoing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But Barça’s position was that the cut-off date, following the contract to the letter, was June 10, days after the regular season had ended under normal circumstances.
Ultimately, Messi decided not to be embroiled in a legal battle, even though he was convinced he could have won it. But that was a million miles away from saying he was happy about the situation.
He wasn’t and, in fact, he felt betrayed. That didn’t help when the club began unofficially reporting to the media in an attempt to make Messi look like the villain of the piece.
Despite that unhappy backdrop to this season, Messi reluctantly decided to stay, although at times you’ve felt like he’s there with clenched teeth.
Now, with President Josep Maria Bartomeu confined to history and a new president to be elected on March 7, Messi has focused more on goals on the field.
He knows that the club is going through a difficult period, but more importantly, he knows that there is nothing he can do about it except to perform to the best of his ability.
The team has improved and a youth nucleus has emerged. He is undefeated in 12 La Liga games, winning nine of them. The hugs and smiles from the large group confirm that new coach Ronald Koeman is making the best of a limited situation.
Much was made of the Messi-Koeman relationship and potential power dynamic when the Dutchman was named in August. The captain has no problem with his coach as such, but he also does not have an unbreakable bond with him.
People close to Koeman are eager to let it be known that the pair enjoy a close relationship, that they talk a lot about soccer, that Messi appreciates the fact that the Dutchman is a direct talker.
But in reality it is not as good a bond as the one he enjoyed with Ernesto Valverde. That same openness in public can get Koeman in trouble, as he has little filter when he expresses his opinion. However, there has been respect from the beginning.
The couple met at Messi’s home before the burofax incident, when Messi told Koeman of his intention to leave.
Koeman told the player in no uncertain terms that everything that had happened in the past with the board had absolutely nothing to do with him. Messi, he said, would be the leader of his team, but what he decided would be respected.
Koeman was quick to realize that all was not well in the Barcelona dressing room, and many in the old guard resented the way the club had handled the removal of some of the team’s previous leaders.
Messi was still furious at the way Luis Suárez had been shown the door, apparently through a telephone conversation with the coach that lasted less than two minutes.
There was also concern about the ongoing negotiations between the players and a directive they deeply mistrusted about the coronavirus pay cut.
The good news for Koeman and Barcelona in general is that Messi has slowly started to regain his mojo.
The Argentine is certainly demanding but believes that there is a project underway, although he also recognizes that reinforcements are needed, and is not sure how it can be done with the club on the verge of bankruptcy.
His attitude on the field serves as a mirror of what is happening outside of it. Goals are celebrated with the whole group and now it seems on at all times.
He has been on the bench for a few games, but that was something that had been agreed with the coach. Meanwhile, he is one of the top scorers and assists in La Liga, despite missing games due to two injuries.
So what happens next?
The only thing Messi has decided so far is that he has no intention of deciding anything until the end of the season.
The first thing he is waiting for is to know who will be the new president of Barcelona. The favorite is former president Joan Laporta, and the news from their camp is that they fully trust that the captain will stay if he wins the elections, although they would hardly say otherwise while the campaign is underway.
There is talk of Laporta seeking to advance a project that would probably be based on selling the French contingent (Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti) with a view to contributing some 200 million euros and then reinforcing the side with him in addition to a central , maybe Bayern Munich’s David Alaba, and almost certainly Manchester City’s Eric Garcia, a left-back and then maybe a top-tier player up front, probably someone like Erling Braut Haaland.
The harsh reality, however, is that it remains to be seen whether in the current economic climate selling those players would generate € 200 million on the open market. Either way, sales will have to be made.
Laporta will use the Qatar World Cup as a tool to persuade Messi to stay in Spain. Why muddy the waters with an uncertain and potentially unsettling change less than 18 months away from what will surely be his last World Cup hooray, his last chance to win the only major trophy that has escaped him?
Messi does dream of one day going to the United States, an idea encouraged by the close friendship between his wife Antonella and Daniella Semaan, wife of his great friend and former teammate Cesc Fabregas.
Cesc and Daniella have been trying to convince the Messis to join them on their next adventure, which they hope will be Major League Soccer.
Things change in football and often very fast. After seemingly getting their season back on track, Barcelona now face an uphill task to reach the Copa del Rey final after falling 2-0 at Sevilla in the first leg of the semi-final last week, while has decisive potential for the season. tie with PSG on Tuesday.
Barcelona have not beaten Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid or Sevilla since 2019. How will Messi feel if Barcelona falls when he faces the greats this season in European and domestic competition?
Messi has not spoken to any of the three presidential candidates and has no intention of doing so. And it won’t tell the new president what to do. You will hear what you have to offer, what the plan is, and then you will live from day to day until it is time to make the most important decision of your adult life.
PSG (and Manchester City) will be waiting.
