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MADRID: Lionel Messi stays at Barcelona, but how long?
Messi can negotiate with other teams from January 1 and leave next summer when his contract expires and this time he will really be able to leave for free.
Until then, Barça has to find a way to reinstate the best player in the club, who no longer wants to play for them.
His bitterly mixed announcement on Friday (September 4) was not greeted with celebration, even among fans, many of whom had supported his decision to go, finding some relief in the idea that he would rediscover success elsewhere.
There was also silence from the players, none of whom gave the kind of public display of support that Luis Suárez and Carlos Puyol offered when Messi told Barça he was leaving.
Even the club seemed unsure how to react. It took almost three hours before a photo of Messi appeared on his social media accounts, with the only positive words he had said during his previous interview, not through the official channels of the club, but with Goal.
“I’m going to do my best. My love for Barça will never change,” he said.
But even if Messi’s intentions are honest, how not to change him with this? His bitterness was obvious and his feelings clear.
If Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu hadn’t gotten in his way, Messi would have left, perhaps now holding a Manchester City jersey and kicking on the Etihad turf.
Instead, he has been forced to remain against his will and remain part of a project in which he no longer believes.
“I am staying because the president said the only way to do it was to pay the 700 million euro clause, which is impossible, or vice versa, to go to court,” Messi said.
Ronald Koeman is trying to look to the future, but Messi is still furious about the past. His first words about his new coach weren’t much of an endorsement either.
“Now I don’t know what will happen,” he said. “There is a new coach and a new idea. That’s good, but then we have to see how the team responds and if it will make us compete or not.”
Koeman said he wanted Messi to be the cornerstone of his project at Camp Nou but he also said: “I only want players who want to be here.”
A happy and motivated Messi could have led the reform but, full of resentment and disappointment, his presence could become an obstacle.
What about Antoine Griezmann now, whom Koeman said he wanted to line up in his best position, coming in from the right where Messi plays?
And for Philippe Coutinho, who has fought in Messi’s shadow, is his own preference for cutting on the inside an obstacle for his captain?
When Messi rejoins preseason training next week, some of his closest allies may not be there. Luis Suárez, his best friend and teammate forward, as well as Arturo Vidal approach the starting gate.
Those who remain will be tasked with managing Messi’s future, each game followed by questions about the 33-year-old’s commitment, intensity and state of mind.
WILL TIME HEAL?
Bartomeu had said he would only sit down with Messi to renew his contract, not cancel it, but no extension was announced on Friday.
As the clock ticks to July 1 of next year, the speculation will continue.
Time could still be a healer, especially if Bartomeu’s board loses the March elections and a new president brings new optimism, a different plan and perhaps Xavi Hernández as coach.
But by then Messi will have been able to talk to other clubs, even agreeing to his move regardless of the change of direction.
In that sense, Barcelona will be under pressure from the start of this season, not only to keep up with Real Madrid but to convince Messi that he can.
At some point there may be fans at the Camp Nou, enough to raise banners and sing songs in support of their captain’s continuation.
But the relationship will never be the same again, the damage done as soon as Messi’s burofax landed in the stadium offices 11 days ago.
Since then, Barcelona wondered how it would recover after Messi. Now they have to recover with him.
