One of the biggest puzzles left to solve for Barcelona is the continuity of Lionel Messi. As it stands, Messi is out of contract and free to sign for whichever team he wants.
However, president Joan Laporta has asked for calm with regards to the negotiations as all signs point that the best player in the world will sign a new contract.
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All roads lead back to Barcelona for the Argentine superstar
The Catalan giants just got a big sigh of relief as one of the teams interested in the Argentinian have bowed out of the race.
According to Sport, Paris Saint-Germain has given up their pursuit of Messi and their dream of reuniting him with former teammate, Neymar.
Up until recently, PSG had not given up hope of making that dream a reality. But after learning of Messi’s intentions, they realized their attempts at convincing him to sign were remote.
From all accounts, a deal between Barcelona and Messi is close. The roadblock to actually announcing his renewal is the club’s financial problems.
They need to offload a number of players, and their wages, to be able to sign Messi and not go over the wage limit imposed by LaLiga. Once that happens, an official announcement should not be far off.
Barcelona has already moved a couple of players but none who were taking up too up much space on the wage bill. So far, the most notable transfer is likely Junior Firpo going to Leeds United.
Despite Laporta calling for calm, some uneasiness remains at the club and in the supporters. They realize they need to get a deal done as, unsurprisingly, Messi is an important part of their plan for next season.
Lionel Messi's intention is to disconnect for three weeks and then rejoin the training sessions at the end of July or the beginning of August. If his contractual situation is resolved, he'll be able to do part of the pre-season with the team. [sport] pic.twitter.com/2EDVucUFep
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 13, 2021
As for Messi, he’s staying relatively quiet and letting his representatives take care of things. After winning the Copa America, he’s set for a vacation and then he’ll see where both sides are in the negotiations.