Lionel Messi has fallen out with the Barcelona board and the club captain has demanded a non-negotiable condition for the board to meet.
After 17 years in the history of Barcelona, Ernesto Valverde became their first manager to be sacked mid-season after Louis Van Gaal who was sacked in 2002/03 season.
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The Catalan board opted for Quique Setien of Real Betis who shares the same ideology that Johan Cruyff believed in that is the possession of the ball is the most important aspect of the game. The club thought that the Cantabrian could possibly bring back the style of play that Johan Cruyff had implemented during his managerial career at Barcelona.
Unfortunately, Barcelona has struggled this season under Ernesto Valverde and Quique Setien. Apart from their poor performance on the field, the club has several internal affairs as well. It all started when Lionel Messi expressed his outrage on Instagram after Eric Abidal had doubted the quality of work that was put in by the players during matchdays and training sessions.
To add fuel to the fire, Josep Maria Bartomeu publicly stated that the board had hired bots to defame some of the current and former players at the club and to praise him instead.
It seems like Lionel Messi and the rest of the squad have come to standstill with Josep Maria Bartomeu and his incompetent team of directors. Diario Gol claims that the Barcelona captain does not want to spend his last few years at the club with a board that is so inefficient and incompetent.
The only way that the board can please the Argentine forward and win his heart back is by signing Neymar next season. Leo Messi is well aware that the club is short on funds and the signing of Neymar seems to be highly unlikely, so he has demanded the board to offer Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele in exchange for Neymar Junior.
If the board wants Lionel Messi to sign the contract renewal then they must submit to his demands immediately before the player walks out for free to any club in the world.