Lionel Messi’s father lands in Barcelona for crunch talks with La Liga club
Written by News on 02/09/2020
Lionel Messi’s father and agent has touched down in Spain for crunch talks with the Barcelona hierarchy over his son’s future.
Jorge Messi boarded a private jet taking him to Spain from Rosario in Argentina and landed in the private terminal of the Barcelona-El Prat airport at around 6.45am local time.
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He is due to meet Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the rest of the Barcelona board on Wednesday to resolve the impasse between player and club over the forward’s contract situation.
On Wednesday morning, Jorge Messi conceded it’s “difficult” his son will stay at Barcelona when asked by Spanish television programme El Chiringuito.
However, he said that “there is nothing yet” in terms of a possible move to Manchester City and that he had not spoken to Pep Guardiola.
Messi no longer considers himself a Barcelona player and did not turn up to the club’s Covid-19 testing on Sunday and subsequent start of training sessions on Monday.
The 33-year-old, who has played for the Spanish team for almost 20 years, informed the club last week he wants to leave.
Insight: Barca boardroom torn ahead of talks
Sky Sports News’ Gary Cotterill in Barcelona:
These talks between Barcelona and Lionel Messi will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. Lionel Messi’s father, Jorge, has now arrived in the country and will be leading these talks as far as the Messi camp is concerned.
The Barcelona side cannot even agree with each other. There is the president’s side, who on one hand say Messi has this valid contract and is not going anywhere for less than the asking price – we are not going to do any deals.
The other side of the boardroom feel like that is unrealistic – we are in financial hole, he could leave anyway in a year’s time and meanwhile hang around not wanting to be here.
There’s going to have to be a lot of talking and I think that’s going to take longer than two days.
De Jong: It’s ‘chaos’ at Barcelona
Frenkie de Jong admits he has not spoken to Messi about his future but concedes it would be a “huge blow” should the Argentine leave.
“It is chaos, there is a lot going on,” De Jong told Dutch outlet NOS while on international duty with the Netherlands.
“I did not talk to him (Messi) about this myself. Not even the club. So I honestly don’t know about it.
“But if Messi really leaves, it will be a huge blow to the team and the club. But when I come back after these international matches, I will see what happened.”
De Jong joined Barca from Ajax last summer. The midfielder is set to be in action for the Netherlands against Poland (September 4) and Italy (Septmeber 7) – both live on Sky Sports.
Messi 360: The view from Barca, Man City and Argentina
Lionel Messi has stunned the football world by demanding to leave Barcelona. But his contract situation is complicated and this is just the beginning of what could be a lengthy, acrimonious and ultimately historic departure.
Ahead of the key meeting between Messi’s father and the Barcelona board, we assess the situation.
To understand how it stands, and how it could develop, you have to view it from all sides…
Messi stay unlikely, says Barca presidential candidate
Barcelona presidential hopeful Victor Font says it seems unlikely Lionel Messi will change his mind about leaving the club.
Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports, Font – the man who hopes to take over from current president Josep Bartomeu – stated his belief while there is hope, the likely outcome is that the player will leave.
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(c) Sky Sports 2020: Lionel Messi’s father lands in Barcelona for crunch talks with La Liga club
