Barcelona Are “Pessimistic” About Keeping Lionel Messi At The Camp Nou.
Barcelona have seen Messi shine throughout his time at the club, with the Argentina international winning 10 La Liga titles and lifting the Champions League four times.
The Argentina international wants to leave the club, with Manchester City making him their top transfer target. Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain have also been linked with the 33-year-old, who has spent nearly two decades in Catalonia.
However, the 33-year-old is now ready to quit the Nou Camp.
Messi feels Barcelona can’t offer him a winning project and the 8-2 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich was the final straw for the player, who feels now is the right time to depart.
And while the La Liga giants have insisted Messi can’t leave for free, they’re said to be “pessimistic” when it comes to their chances of keeping hold of their talisman.
Reporter Marcelo Bechler, who first broke the story about Messi wanting to leave Barcelona, told Bleacher Report: “At the beginning of the season he said what was important was not a big contract or money, but a strong project.
“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.”
Author and commentator Andy West also revealed that Messi had explored the prospect of leaving Barcelona before, back when Luis Enrique was manager.
“Messi has considered leaving before,” he said.
“At the start of his career he contemplated a big offer from Inter Milan, and more recently he seriously struggled to connect with Luis Enrique during the early days of his managerial stint at the Camp Nou.
“It came to a head at the start of 2015 when Luis Enrique left both Messi and Neymar on the bench for a game at Real Sociedad because they had only recently returned after spending Christmas in South America.
“Barca lost the game 1-0, Messi skipped the following day’s open training session for young fans and mischievously started following Chelsea on Instagram.
“It was a fraught week, but reconciliation came with a stirring victory over Atletico Madrid and the two enjoyed a decent relationship after that.
“I think it would be perfectly understandable if Messi chose to leave now. The club has become a circus, and for the last few years he has been asked to do far too much to paper over the ever-widening cracks.
“Messi is fully aware of the poor state of the team and the club in general and feels that his public warnings have not been heeded.
“Considering the ageing profile of the squad and their dire financial situation, it’s hard to see how Barca will be able to challenge for a major trophy next season, and Messi must be wondering whether he is prepared to effectively waste one of the few remaining years of his career.”
Manchester City are frontrunners in the battle to sign Messi, with Pep Guardiola previously managing the forward at Barcelona.
Juventus, PSG and Inter Milan have also been linked with the Argentine.
But one club who won’t be swooping for Messi is Manchester United, who have distanced themselves from talk of a deal for the veteran.
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