Barcelona interim president faces an impossible task with Messi

Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona face a challenge of keeping Lionel Messi happy and it may well be the biggest one that the current board will face in its interim tenure.

Lionel Messi was within touching distance of bidding farewell to Barcelona in the summer but Josep Maria Bartomeu held the captain hostage at the club. However, the 33-year-old can legally begin negotiations with a different club over a transfer for next season in January itself and such an instance may spell trouble for the Blaugrana.

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Bartomeu has resigned and it would have certainly made Messi happy after he highlighted some weeks ago that he was deprived of happiness within the club due to how it was being run. Having said that, the new management must bring in marked changes to the stature of the club or risk losing Barca’s all-time top scorer.

For the time being and until the foreseeable future, Carles Tusquets is the interim president of the Catalan giants and very recently, he revealed that the current board will come under pressure to conduct elections meaning he does face a task on his hands, which is to keep Messi at the club, according to reports.

Carles Tusquets will have to make a number of signings in January or at least ensure the club is run in a respectable manner. Bartomeu took several pathetic decisions in recent months, which included sales of two key players- Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez– who are now doing a great job in Sevilla and Atletico Madrid.

One of the biggest challenges the 69-year-old president will face is to ensure that the players are content with regard to the proposed wage cut. Owing to the pandemic, a lot of clubs have had to ask players to cope with a cut in payments and so, with Barca also looking to extend their discounted scheme, Tusquets must ensure that justice is made.

Next. Barcelona shortlist two candidates as successors for Messi. dark

Do you think Messi will stay beyond the 2021 season?