Barcelona desperately need to repair their relationship with Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi’s relationship with Barcelona continues to decline at an alarming rate. It’s time for the club to repair relations with their biggest star.
Barcelona officials are playing a dangerous game with Lionel Messi. If things don’t improve in the near future, it’s very possible that the global icon will finish his playing career with another club.
Cadena Ser reports that the diminutive Argentine midfielder has halted contract clubs with the La Liga giants and “wants to leave Barcelona in June 2021.” There’s a lot of time for Barcelona to improve their relations with Messi before he is in a position to sign a pre-contract with another club, but every day that passes without mending their relationship with Messi should be a massive worry for Barcelona supporters.
Messi’s anger with the club largely stems from being blamed by fans for several high-profile personality conflicts within the past year. Some fans blamed him for the club’s willingness to sell Neymar. An even larger percentage of club supporters believe Messi was a big reason why Ernesto Valverde was let go as the team’s manager earlier this season.
Even if Messi was the driving force behind those decisions, the club owe it to their biggest star to protect him from exterior criticism. The board should step out into the public eye and claim responsibility for these decisions. That might not alleviate all of the fan pressure being heaped onto Messi’s shoulders at the moment, but it would make him feel more supported by the club.
Time is of the essence if Barcelona want to get their contract talks with Messi headed in the right direction. It’s very likely the club will enact another managerial change this summer. It’s easy to envision a scenario where Messi chooses to put his contract talks on hold until a new manager gets a chance to show his worth during the 2020-21 campaign. That kind of timing would put Messi perilously close to being able to leave the club via a free transfer.
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Add it all up and this entire issue is a massive concern for Barcelona. Messi isn’t just the best player in the club’s storied history. He’s still the best player on their squad even at the age of 33. Replacing the goals, assists and creative flair he provides the team on a regular basis would be an impossible task. Losing Messi via a free transfer would also serve as the biggest embarrassment in club history. It’s time for Barcelona officials to repair the damaged relationship.