Barcelona have their plans in place for the post-Messi era
Lionel Messi’s future at Barcelona has been under the scanner in the past few months with the Argentine ace set to complete his contract next year.
As per Express, Barcelona’s president Josep Maria Bartmoeu is clear in terms of how he wants to cope after Messi does leave the club in the future. Mind you, it could very well be next year with the 32 year-old having desires to finish off his career at his boyhood club back in Argentina.
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Messi, though 32 in terms of age, hasn’t showed signs of slowing down and is the leading goal scorer in La Liga at the moment and not to mention, he has been doing the brunt of the goal scoring work for the Blaugrana in recent times despite struggling with fitness at times.
As per various sources, Bartmoeu’s plan involves bringing former players back into the club at various levels. Former legendary midfielder, Xavi could very well be slotted into the role of the manager and Neymar could be brought in to lead the way for Barcelona. The plans however, could substantially change should the current president lose the elections next year.
It is to be understood that previous attempts at getting Xavi and Puyol back into the club as the manager and director of football respectively have failed and there’s no such indication which would suggest that the move might work around this time.
It does look like at the moment that the team morale isn’t at an all time great and the players are being constantly screened for failures. For instance, the Blaugrana are looking to show Antoine Griezmann the door following a poor first season and we have every reason to believe that barring some of the bigger names at the club, the rest of the players are playing with the fear of failure.
Barcelona do need some fresh blood and Neymar is 28 at the moment. It would suggest that he’s still young but it’s only a matter of three or four years before he’s no longer at his prime. Moreover, there’s no clear picture on Messi’s exit date and hence a better move would be try and get someone like Lautaro Martinez and groom him for the future.
Next. 'Quique Setien prepares the signing of the season for Barcelona' via @fansided. dark
Xavi as the future manager does seem like a fantasy and Puyol as the director of football would be a dream come true for many. However, one shouldn’t think too far ahead and make merry of the greatest number 10 to have graced this sport performing magic in his last days.