Quique Setien and Lionel Messi are at crossroads over a major sale for the summer that was required to sign either Neymar or Lautaro Martinez.
The pressure at Barcelona continues to mount up as the summer transfer is getting closer with every passing day. As the board at Barca plan on signing a few world-class players, a few departures would be required and it seems that Lionel Messi and Quique Setien have clashed over the same.
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Initially, the issue at the club was to decide which player would want to leave prematurely before their contract expires, however, the recent few months have been a disaster for the management committee of the Catalan club and several players are considered whether staying at the Camp Nou would put their career in jeopardy.
One of the star players who had lost all patience with the board and wanted out immediately in the coming summer was Ivan Rakitic, however, Don Balon claims that the Cantabrian manager has somehow managed to calm the entire situation regarding the Croatian.
The Croatian enters Quique Setien’s list of players that cannot be sold under any circumstances next season, the list includes Lionel Messi, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and now Ivan Rakitic. Quique Setien has managed to convince the former Sevilla man that he would play an important role under him next season as he would pair up with Frenkie de Jong in the midfield throughout the season.
On the other side, Josep Maria Bartomeu may not be pleasant as the Croatian was one of his best options for the summer to cash in to help facilitate the return of Neymar or the signing of Lautaro Martinez.
Neither would Lionel Messi accept Quique Setien’s recent actions on a kind note, the Argentine captain was adamant and had demanded the board to either sign Neymar Junior or Lautaro Martinez next season or he would move.
The Catalan club’s last resort would be to add Ousmane Dembele, Samuel Umtiti and Philippe Coutinho to the transfer list, to sign either Neymar or Lautaro Martinez.