The club president will not retire for another year, but the captain’s refusal to sign a contract extension is likely to change things.
Lionel Messi never used to say much.
As a child, he was famous for being an introvert.
Former defender of the Barcelona youth team, Robert Franch, said objective how Messi joined the Infantil B side “without us even hearing him say hello.”
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Even after establishing himself as the best player in the world, Messi avoided being the center of attention. He was always content to let his football speak for him, and that said a lot.
However, things have changed. Dramatically.
Since the turn of the year, Messi has felt compelled to make his voice heard.
When Eric Abidal suggested that the Barcelona players were responsible for the dismissal of Ernesto Valverde in January, the club captain issued a sharp reprimand.
When it was reported in the Catalan press that the team was reluctant to accept a coronavirus-related pay cut, Messi suggested that those stories came from within the club.
These were very significant public statements from such a private person.
Messi has not yet replied to SER’s chain They claim that he could leave the Camp Nou when his contract expires next summer, but that in itself is revealing.
In fact, the silence is deafening.
How objective He can confirm that Messi does not want to leave Barcelona, but he is immensely frustrated with the way the club is currently managed. The suspension of talks on an extension is evidence of their dissatisfaction.
Make no mistake about it: this is a deliberate move by Messi; A vote of mistrust in the President of Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu.
For the first time in his 19 years in Catalonia, Messi is getting involved in club politics. He has always preferred to stay away from such matters; It was not his business.
But now what happens outside the field is directly influencing what happens on it.
Barcelona have signed the three most expensive players in the club’s history since 2017. But Ousmane Dembele is injured (again), Philippe Coutinho is on loan at Bayern Munich, while Antoine Griezmann was a 90-minute substitute in the draw. Tuesday with Atlético de Madrid.
The best player on the field at the Camp Nou was possibly a 20-year-old academy project, Riqui Puig.
It’s an amazing state of affairs for a club the size and stature of Barça, one that has spent more than € 1 billion (£ 901m / $ 1.12bn) on transfers since Bartomeu became president in 2014, and wasted almost everything.
One bad deal has been quickly followed by another and that waste was always going to catch up with the Blaugrana, who now find themselves with insufficient cash to achieve their main summer transfer goal, Lautaro Martínez.
According to Inter, the € 111m purchase clause for its Argentine attacker (£ 100m / $ 125m) will expire on Monday. No one familiar with the financial situation at the Camp Nou expects Barça to find it for the next 24 hours.
Messi has not hidden his admiration for Lautaro. Or his enduring affection for Neymar, who left Barça for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. He had hoped the club would bring the Brazilian back last summer.
However, the perception was that Bartomeu did not want to sign Neymar again; he just wanted to be seen trying to re-sign it. Tellingly, Messi openly wondered if everything possible had been done to make this happen.
It was the first sign of tension in a relationship between the President and the Captain that now appears to be broken beyond repair.
‘Barca-gate’ played a key role in its collapse, as the club was reported to have hired a public relations firm not only to enhance the image of Bartomeu and his fellow board members but also to tarnish the reputation of their perceived enemies, including Messi.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner simply admitted that he found it all very “strange.”
However, when stories appeared in the press saying that the players did not want to help the club by reducing their salaries during the financial crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Messi stated that “from within the club there were those who tried to pressure us to do something we always knew we would do. “
Now he’s completely fed up with the way they portray him, not just the players in general.
He is bothered by the suggestion that he has too much influence in the locker room; that you have a problem with Griezmann; that he decides whether to hire or fire a coach.
In fact, Messi has an incredible amount of power at the Camp Nou due to his status as the best player in the world, but he never felt compelled to exercise it.
Until now.
It was previously thought that Bartomeu would see the last year of his term no matter what, but Messi’s refusal to sign a new contract has cast doubt on the president’s immediate future.
Bartomeu was already more isolated than ever. Six of its directors resigned in April, with one, Emili Rousaud, claiming that someone had their hand in the chests at Camp Nou.
Messi’s refusal to commit to a new deal has now put pressure on his boss and there is a good chance that next year’s elections can now be brought forward.
Some may interpret Thursday’s news as evidence that Messi could leave Barcelona. However, in reality, it is Bartomeu who is now facing an early departure.
By saying nothing, Messi has made his voice heard. Bartomeu will do well to survive the calls resulting from his resignation.
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