Madrid (AFP)
While FC Barcelona has been lost since the resumption of the Spanish Championship between locker room bickering and mixed results, speculation about the future of Lionel Messi at Barça has re-emerged in the press, forcing the locker room and the Catalan leaders to react quickly.
Caprice of rebellious star or true malaise of a frustrated competitor? While Barça has seen the title of champion of Spain move away, with four points out of Real Madrid five days from the end, Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi (33) would have punched the table in threatening to leave the club at the end of his contract in 2021, according to the Spanish press.
"Messi plans to leave Barça," Spanish radio station Cadena Ser reported on Thursday during its iconic football show "El Larguero".
"Right now, Messi's idea is to finish his contract in 2021 and abandon FC Barcelona. Messi has paralyzed the extension of his contract. Negotiations had started very well, with a good understanding between the two parties, but recent events have made Messi reconsidering everything, and for now, he has decided to stop "the negotiations," said Cadena Ser.
- "I did not hear anything" -
A pavement in the stormy pool of Barça, which risks having only the final tournament of the Champions League in August to save a badly started season.
"I will not speculate on (the future of Messi), because I did not hear anything. I did not have wind of the fact that he said anything", reacted the blaugrana trainer Quique Setién Saturday in a press conference before moving from Barça (2nd, 70 pts) to Villarreal Sunday (22:00, 20:00 GMT) for the 34th day of Liga, crucial to try to catch up with Real (1st, 74 pts).
"Me, I feel it. I repeat that everything else is only speculation in which I will not enter," scanned the technician from Barça.
One year before the elections for the club's presidency, this speculation around the sixfold Ballon d'Or, keystone of the team for years, is to be taken very seriously for President Josep Maria Bartomeu and his team.
This kind of scenario has already shaken Barça in the past, according to a proven method: in January 2015, Messi was in conflict with coach Luis Enrique, who had left him on the bench during a match against Real Sociedad .
- "Messi doubts, Barça trembles" -
Result: the "Pulga" (chip, in Spanish) had sulked by being worn pale in training, before following Chelsea's account on Instagram, which had fueled transfer rumors ... The effect had been immediate: Bartomeu had calmed the spirits, Luis Enrique put water in his wine and Chelsea dismissed such a recruitment, judging it "almost impossible" for any club respecting financial fair play.
Chance or not, Barça had then remobilized to end the season in tears on a sumptuous triple Liga-Cup-Champions League ...
Anyway, all the press has echoed in recent days the supposed malaise of the Barcelona captain, who has just crossed the threshold of 700 career goals despite the bad pass of Barça (3 draws on the last 4 matches).
"Messi doubt, Barça is shaking," the Spanish sports newspaper As posted Saturday.
"Messi's anger gives Barça supporters a headache," reported Marca, Spain's best-selling newspaper, while Catalan newspaper L'Esportiu wrote "Doubts" on the front page. , stating that "Messi does not see a winning project coming to Barça and is thinking about extending his contract and retiring here (in Barcelona) or leaving in 2021 at 34 years".
"We do not wish (his departure)," ruled Thursday the French coach of Real Madrid Zinedine Zidane. "I don't know what's going to happen, but we don't want that (his departure). Today he's in this Liga, and we want to have the best in this Liga," concluded Zidane.
© 2020 AFP