The face-off between Argentine football icon Lionel Messi and Spanish La Liga giants FC Barcelona is still as intense as it has been since Monday, 24 August 2020, when Messi submitted a transfer request to the club.
The 6 times Ballon d’Or winner has less than a year on his current contract with Barcelona but he is not interested in renewing his stay at the club he has been playing for since he was 17-year-old.
The 33-year-old lost his love for the club completely when they were disgraced out of the UEFA Champions League in the semi-finals stage by the eventual winners of the competition, Bayern Munich. The German Bundesliga giants beat Barcelona 8-2 to make them end the 2019-2020 season without a trophy.
Lionel Messi request for a meeting
Earlier on Friday, viral reports claimed that Lionel Messi has requested to meet with Barcelona’s board led by Josep Maria Bartomeu, the club’s president. Though details of the request were not made public, it was confirmed that Messi wants his lawyer, and his father Jorge Horacio, who doubled as his agent, to be present at the meeting.
It is expected that Lionel Messi would use the meeting to discuss his future at the club which is looking very uncertain. But the outcome(s) of the meeting could be for or against the club.
Messi vs. Barcelona: The possible outcomes of the meeting
Lionel Messi is regarded as the greatest player of all time by many and hence, no club would not want to have him if they can afford the bills. This fact has made it difficult for Barcelona to allow him to go without the fight the club is currently putting up.
So, if Messi’s proposed meeting holds, the outcome could be that Barcelona might prevail on him to extend his contract or insist on allowing him to go to a club that can afford his £700 million release clause.
Another outcome could be that Messi and his representatives might be able to convince the club to reduce the price tag on Messi’s head in order to make it possible for other clubs to sign him. The football star could also insist on leaving the club as a free transfer based on a clause on his contract which reportedly gives him permission to wake away for free at the end of any season.
The worst scenario is that both parties might not agree which would lead them to take their differences to court. This would be a distractive scenario that might be counterproductive for both parties as far as the forthcoming 2020-2021 season is concerned.
Barcelona failed to grant Messi’s request
The latest updates from the saga say the club has refused to grant Lionel Messi’s request to have a meeting with the board. According to Marca, the club said they would not grant Messi audience except he has agreed to extend his contract with the club.
“Either it’s to renew [his contract] or there’s nothing to discuss,” the club told Marca. This could mean that the battle is not something that would end as smoothly as it should.
Ronald Koeman to intervene
Ronald Koeman who was just appointed the manager of Barcelona has returned to Spain on Friday after traveling to his home country, Netherlands less than a week ago. His return to Spain is said to be connected to Messi’s saga.
The manager who is also a football legend of the club wants Messi to stay and he has had a couple of meetings with the football icon in that regard. Koeman is reportedly planning to meet with the club’s president and Messi again in his attempt to settle the crisis so that the club can concentrate on the forthcoming 2020-2021 season.
