June is getting ever closer and Barcelona must answer the toughest question now, will Lionel Messi stay or go? The 33-year-old has been linked with numerous clubs throughout the past few months. The player told the media that he will not be talking to other clubs at the moment and only be focusing on Barcelona for now but with the latest controversy surrounding the leaking of his contract, it is tough to imagine the Argentine remaining at Spain.
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Barcelona manager, Ronald Koeman, on the other hand, has been optimistic about their chances of keeping the club legend although even he accepts that they cannot maintain his wages any longer. The Dutch manager is still happy that the forward is showing some of his best footballing performances this season and he also seems quite happy on the field.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner took his goal scoring tally to 15 goals in 20 La Liga matches after last night’s demolition of Deportivo Alaves. The Argentine scored two more goals in that match and even assisted once as the Catalans beat Alaves 5-1. After the match, Koeman talked about Lionel Messi in a press conference and seemed quite happy about the Argentine’s performance and state of mind.
Lionel Messi is extremely happy at Barcelona.
In the post-match interview, he was asked about Messi’s impact on the upcoming game against Paris Saint-Germain and Koeman said,
"“Well, we know that Leo is a decisive player, he has been for many years, he is very concentrated. He’s excited, he’s happy and he’s been very effective in front of goal”Source Goal"
Koeman then went on to talk about the player’s vision and then said that the runs he makes, makes it very easy for the team to place him behind the defense. He again emphasized the importance of keeping the club legend if they want to compete for every trophy possible saying,
"“if we want to try and go through or aspire to win trophies having Messi at his best is vital,”"
The Argentine, however, has not publicly made any statement other than promising to give his best for the club he is currently playing at. With both Manchester City and PSG looming around the corner, Barcelona must come up with a good future plan for the club in order to make Messi give the club another chance.
However, even that might not be enough as with the current situation, they will have to cut the player’s wage by 40 percent. This could massively affect the player’s decision as there have been rumors that PSG are willing to pay him a wage of 800,000 euros a week, a figure which the Catalans just cannot match. However, we will have to wait and see what happens and no one can tell us for sure what is going on in the player’s head.
Will Messi extend his stay at the Nou Camp?