Lionel Messi’s contract with Barcelona is coming to an end Wednesday with no news from the player or the club about his future.
The expectation is that the 34-year-old Messi, who is playing with Argentina at the Copa America, will stay at the Catalan club. He reportedly had been close to reaching a deal to extend his contract for two more years.
Messi’s future has been a mystery since he had his request to leave the club denied at the end of the 2019-20 season. He ended up staying and said he would reconsider his options when this season was over.
A lot has changed since he announced he wanted to leave the club. That decision was made not long after the team’s embarrassing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, one of the worst defeats in the club’s and Messi’s history.
But since then, Barcelona have a new coach in Ronald Koeman and a new president after the resignation of Josep Bartomeu, who was at odds with Messi.
In came Joan Laporta, who won the club’s presidential election in part because of his good relationship with the Argentina star.
He was the president when Messi’s career started. Laporta said recently he was optimistic that Messi would renew his contract. When asked about Messi’s future on Wednesday, he briefly said “don’t worry.”
Messi excelled again this season despite staying against his wishes. He led the Spanish league in scoring with 30 goals and helped the team win the Copa del Rey title.
In Messi’s previous contract, signed in 2017, he reportedly earned 138 million euros ($164 million) per season.
Playing in Barcelona’s favour to keep Messi is the fact the club has been slowly improving financially amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Koeman is staying for a second season, and some players are arriving to boost the squad, including Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia.
Messi has won 35 titles in 17 seasons with Barcelona. He helped the club win the Champions League four times, the Spanish league 10 times, the Copa del Rey seven times and the Spanish Super Cup eight times.
While with the club, Messi earned himself a record six Ballon d’Or awards. He is the team’s all-time leading scorer with 672 goals in 778 appearances, and the top scorer in the Spanish league with 474 goals in 520 matches. He also is the player with most matches with the club.
He was the top scorer in the Spanish league in eight seasons and the top scorer in the Champions League on six occasions. His 26 goals against Real Madrid are a record for the 'clasico' matches against Barcelona’s fiercest rivals.
Messi arrived at Barcelona at age 13, when he and his family came to Spain to try his luck at the club’s youth academy. He made his official debut on Oct. 16, 2004, and two years later helped the club win their first Champions League in a squad led by Ronaldinho.
Why Emiratis don white kandouras? Why Arabic coffee is served in small, half-filled cups? All such questions answered at a wind-tower house gathering
Are you thinking of taking a few days off from your work and flying off to Malaysia with your friends and family?
After nearly six months of war, Gaza’s health sector has been decimated. Roughly a dozen of 36 hospitals are only partially functioning
This is not the place to scour for new romantic partners, say many, who want the site to retain its original purpose
Dr Amna Al Dahak has stated that the National Committee for Food Safety has partially approved the ban already
Bill authors want to send a message of support to Black people, others who have faced hostility because of their hair
The premium tier offers functionalities such as the Edit Post feature, enabling users to make limited changes to published content within a one-hour window