Undoubtedly, legendary Argentine and Barcelona talisman Messi forward is the person synonymous with the Catalan giants, having spent no less than 19 years of his entire professional career at Camp Nou.
If the 33-year-old were to ply his trade elsewhere at the start of next season, it will be the final piece of proof that 2020 truly is the strangest year any of us have lived through.
Now for the first time ever, Messi is seriously contemplating his dubious future at the Blaugrana following a massively disappointing 2019-20 season with the club’s affairs under the highly questionable management headed by Josep Maria Bartomeu, the incumbent president linked with numerous controversies and scandals involving the club during his tenure.
Barça lost out with a whimper to arch rivals Real Madrid in the La Liga title race and were then subjected to a total humiliation by an awesome Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week with a scoreline that verged on being absolutely ridiculous that made the Blaugrana giants look like mere winnows totally helpless in the face of aggressive marauders.
Messi and his teammates were rendered absolutely powerless to prevent their team crashing to a catastrophic 8-2 defeat in Lisbon to the dimsay and shock of the entire football world.
Two days later, the journalist who created a media frenzy worldwide and broke the news of Neymar’s 2017 purported move to Paris Saint-Germain way ahead of it actually happening sensationally revealed that Messi is insistent to leave Barcelona immediately after the Bayern Munich debacle.
Marcelo Bechler’s stunning announcement that Messi, furious after the Bayern defeat, doesn’t want to wait until his current deal expires in 2021 before leaving Camp Nou came as an absolute shocker to the footballing world.
This same journalist, who has since earned his credibility ratings after having been proven right in his announcement about Neymar earlier, has now provided more details to Bleacher Reports’s B/R Football Ranks podcast, saying it is indeed ‘very likely’ that Messi will leave Barcelona this summer if another project at a different club takes his fancy, with Barca said to be ‘pessimistic’ about keeping their star man.
“At the beginning of the season he said what was important was not a big contract or money, but a strong project,” Bechler explained. “And with no titles and that loss to Bayern, he still has three or four years left to play and he knows he can help Barca—but they can not help him.
“Messi has always thought him and Barca were ‘just one thing,’ but now he is thinking maybe he can be another thing without Barcelona. He can make another step and try to win without Barcelona.
“He is angry with the board and disappointed with the club and wants to leave now. Barca are pessimistic because they can’t offer a solid project and can’t do much to help him.
“It is very likely he leaves Barcelona if there is another project, I don’t know where or which club. It is impossible in this economy to pay €700 million, but I think Barca don’t want him here unhappy. After all that Messi gave to them, they don’t want him here as a prisoner.”
Most interesting, without a doubt.
It also sounds like Barcelona would not be able to stand in Messi’s way if he genuinely wants to leave the club, not that they wouldn’t want to.
They obviously very much would want him to stay, but there’s absolutely nothing the club can do if he prefers finally to uproot and seek his peace elsewhere.
The last thing Messi would want is to feel like unhappy and a prisoner at Camp Nou, so it sounds likely that they would accept a fee significantly lower than his €700 million buyout clause if he really were to leave.
As things stand, there have been no formal bids for Messi.
That said, given the opportunity, Manchester City are the current favourites to sign the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, followed by Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. All three clubs have the deepest pockets currently and would be more than happy to have the GOAT enter their ranks.
Barcelona’s heavily under-fire president Josep Maria Bartomeu insisted on Tuesday that Messi will stay and be a cornerstone of the Ronald Koeman project. That of course is his myopic view of things as he obviously can’t see the wood for the trees and presumes to speak on behalf of Messi.
What Lionel Messi himself is thinking of nobody else would know. Until he speaks soon again in response to Bartomeu’s latest paltry offering of peace with Setien and Abidal’s leaving and Koenan’s appointment.