4 yıl önce

Messi misses training, Barcelona wants to change his mind

Messi failed to turn up for pre-season training as talks with Messi’s father, who is also his agent, are expected this week in Barcelona,.

Reuters

Barcelona's Lionel Messi in action in Lisbon, Portugal, August 14, 2020.

FC Barcelona 's presidential candidate Victor Font has said Lionel Messi is unlikely to change his mind about leaving the football club.

Messi rocked Barcelona last month when his lawyers told the club he wanted to activate a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave for free before the 2020-21 season.

The club disputed the claim saying the clause expired on June 10 – with La Liga also releasing a statement saying his contract was still valid – but Font is not optimistic about convincing Messi to stay another year.

"I really hope the decision can be changed," Font told Sky Sports. "It doesn't seem likely, though... if that's the case, the focus should be on making the transition as smooth as possible.

"Messi loves the club and he wants to win, he wants to compete. He has been saying this for many, many years, it's not just been for a few weeks.

"Unfortunately the club has not been able to deliver on the promise of building a competitive team."

Messi, 33, last won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015 and an 8-2 humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals last month was the final straw for the six-times world player of the year.

Messi, who failed to turn up for pre-season training on Monday, had previously labelled his side "weak" and "inconsistent" after surrendering the league title to rivals Real Madrid.

The club has spent millions on players in the transfer market who have not come good in recent years and transfer strategy is something Font hopes to change if he is elected president.

"Currently you have the president, the chairman of the board and even some directors making decisions about signings, about selling players and that needs to be changed," Font, who hopes to succeed president Josep Maria Bartomeu in the election next March, added.

"That's why we've been working on a project and we need people to lead that who come from the world of football."

Talks

Talks with Messi’s father, who is also his agent, are expected this week in Barcelona, but the club also hopes to sit down with the player himself.

Messi has been offered a two-year contract extension, a club official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person is not authorised to speak publicly about the issue.

The contract would run through the 2022-23 season. Both sides had already pre-agreed on most of the terms a few months ago, according to the club official.

TV pictures showed Jorge Messi boarding a private plane in Rosario.

The plane was destined for the United States, from where he would proceed to Spain, local newspapers Ole and Capital de Rosario reported.

Messi's contract ends in June 2021 and has a buyout clause of $838 million (700 million euros).

Club president Josep Bartomeu first talked to Messi’s father over the phone after the loss to Bayern and was told that Messi was frustrated and disappointed.

The club hopes, though, that it can solve the problem by meeting with Messi in person and convincing him that the best decision for him is to stay.

Messi, who has often said in the past that he wanted to finish his career with Barcelona, has not publicly expressed his reasons for wanting to leave. He never directly named Bartomeu in his criticism of the club, but the president said last week he was willing to resign if Messi cited him as the problem.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies