Presidential hopeful Rousaud claims to have a solid project for Lionel Messi.
As the elections come closer, one thing becomes very clear. Whoever the new president of Barcelona may be, will have to persuade Lionel Messi into extending his contract with the club. The club captain is on his last six months of his contract and will leave the club for free at the end of the season. This will be a very big loss for Barca, on-field as well as financially.
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One candidate who has promised to keep Lionel Messi no matter what is Emili Rousaud. The candidate had previously spoken about the tremendous fee that the club spends on the Argentine but now he speaks more sympathetically. In an interview with SPORT, the presidential candidate said that although the club cannot finance Lionel Messi’s full pay, he is sure that the player will stay on.
While the 33-year-old is strongly tipped to join Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, Rousaud believes that his projects for the club are exciting enough to make him stay. In the interview with SPORT, he said,
"“He did not want to leave the club for economic reasons. It was down to the lack of a sports project, I will look him in the eyes and say: ‘Your salary is unsustainable, the club cannot pay you. But we are going to launch a project to surround you with young talent.”Source Goal"
Rousaud has made some bold claims throughout his campaign and even went on to say that his team could bring Erling Haaland to the club. His advisor claims that he has already spoken to Haaland’s agent and they have understood the terms and conditions on which the young sensation will agree to sign for Barca. The candidate has even made statements in which he claims that he could bring in Kylian Mbappe as well as Neymar.
While Rousaud understands that there is no money in the club to bring in players of their caliber, he believes the value and weight of the Barcelona crest will be able to pull in these players. He said in the interview,
"“The market prices in which the players move now are not those of two years ago, In addition, Barca has something very important: a shirt that has a lot of weight in the world. But of course, we will not stretch the arm more than the sleeve.”Source Goal"
He added by saying that the club wasted all the money that they made from the Neymar to PSG deal but he can rectify that error. He realizes that there will need to be wage cuts and downgrades but he believes that he has a plan that will lead the club to success. Of course, none of that will matter if he cannot win the elections, and currently, he is well below leading candidates Victor Font and Joan Laporta.
Who would you like as Barca’s next president?