Staying with Barcelona not completely ruled out by Messi

FC Barcelona fans hold a banner telling club president Josep Maria Bartomeu to leave and asking Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi to stay as they gather outside the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on August 26, 2020 after Messi announced his desire to leave the club. – Lionel Messi’s bombshell request to leave Barcelona is expected to spark a legal battle over a multi-million-dollar buy-out clause but also raises the question of which club could afford him in the heat of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP)

Staying with Barcelona may be an option for Lionel Messi after all.

A day after the Spanish club reaffirmed its position not to facilitate a transfer, Messi’s father-agent did not dismiss the possibility of his son reconsidering his decision to leave.

Jorge Messi left the prospect open after being briefly questioned by the Cuatro television channel on Thursday on whether he was considering the possibility of Messi staying for now and leaving for free next year.

The affirmation came a day after there was no agreement in the first meeting between Jorge Messi and Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu. Jorge Messi had said upon arriving in Barcelona on Wednesday that he saw it “difficult” for his son to keep playing for Barcelona.

Lionel Messi last week told Barcelona he was invoking a contract clause that allowed him to leave for free at the end of the season, but the club claimed that the clause had expired in June. Barcelona said it wanted Messi to stay until the end of his contract in June 2021. The contract has a buyout clause of 700 million euros ($837 million).

Barcelona said it has offered the Argentine a two-year extension that would keep him with the club through the 2022-23 season. It also wanted to meet personally with the player to try to convince him to stay and finish his career with the club where he started playing nearly 20 years ago.

Neither part made concessions in Wednesday’s meeting in Barcelona, with Jorge Messi confirming that his son wanted to leave and Barcelona reaffirming that it will not accept his transfer request. They have not scheduled another round of negotiations, but Barcelona said it still hoped Messi would change his mind about leaving.

Messi has yet to speak publicly since the 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals, one of the worst in the player’s career and in the club’s history. The defeat capped a disappointing season for Barcelona, the first without a title since 2007-08.

The 33-year-old Messi had been outspoken against club officials during the season and he hasn’t shown up at the club since the squad returned to training on Monday. He also skipped the required coronavirus tests the team underwent on Sunday.

The player’s representatives claim the clause allowing him to leave the club for free should still be valid because the season was pushed back by the coronavirus pandemic.

Barcelona is scheduled to begin its season against Villarreal in the Spanish league at the end of the month.