Lionel Messi hints at uncertainty over Barcelona future beyond next summer
Lionel Messi has appeared to suggest that he could leave Barcelona next summer, in a surprise interview in which he appeared to suggest that some at the Camp Nou would be prepared to let him go.
Messi, 27, ended a prolonged period of speculation over his future
by agreeing a new deal at the Catalan club in May, which improved his salary to a reported 20 million euros a year.
That seemed to put an end to long-running reports of issues between the player's camp and the Barca hierarchy, which had stretched back over a season which he missed a large portion of due to a persistent muscle injury.
But speaking to Argentine newspaper
Ole, in language interpreted by some in the
Madrid-based media to say he is thinking of perhaps leaving Barca at the end of the current season, Messi said he was simply focusing on the 2014-15 campaign and would then see what came next.
"At the moment I am living in the present," Messi said. "I am thinking about having a great year and winning the trophies we want at Barcelona. And nothing else. Later we will see. In football things change all the time. Although I have always said I would like to stay there forever, sometimes everything does not always go as you want."
Even the way in which that new contract was finalised last May -- with the player's camp releasing a statement suggesting he could leave if the "people" at Barcelona were not happy with him, before the club hours later confirmed the paperwork had been signed -- did not completely quash the suspicion that the relations between all concerned had not fully healed.
Pushed to clarify if he felt he was being forced out of Barca, Messi again suggested that a change could happen, while appearing to say that continuing boardroom uncertainty at the Camp Nou was a factor in all this.
"I have said it many times," he said. "If it were for me, I would stay forever. But as I said before, everything does not always come out as you want -- even more in football, which changes so much, and in which so many things can happen. It is complicated, even more given what is happening today at Barcelona."
Barca began the current campaign impressively under new coach Luis Enrique, but October's
3-1 clasico defeat to Real Madrid and the team's subsequent
1-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo led to much questioning of the team's current direction. Messi, however, appeared to say that such short-term issues were not a big concern for him.
"[Barca] is a very big club," he added. "And when you lose two games in a row problems begin to come, criticism comes out from all sides. A new coach came, with new ideas, and that takes time.
"We have players who are more than good enough to do big things this year. And I am relaxed about it. This has just begun. There is still a long way to go in La Liga and the Champions League. So I am not worried."
Any renewed speculation over Messi's future is likely to increase pressure on current Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, with former club chief Joan Laporta among the most vocal critics of the present regime.
Clubs including Manchester City, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and even Real Madrid have been mentioned as possible new destinations for the four-time Ballon d'Or winner in the past.
His words are worrying. This board is trying to drive him out, season by season... They'll suceed sooner or later, if they aren't sent away next summer.
