10 - Lionel Messi - v5

[Ousmane Dembélé]

Bullsh*t.

Totti is now immortal...Had he left that perhaps wouldn't have been the case.He will be a living legend until his last breath,and an even bigger one after that.He will always be remembered,his name will always be mentioned,his goals and records will always be talked about and replayed whenever there's a Roma game scheduled.

Trade that for a couple trophies?Never.

Good point, you could also argue that Totti's legacy is so great because he decided to stick his career out with a single club, when he perhaps could've moved on to bigger and better things. Not many players do that and it just adds to his aura.

Fair enough, there are many perspectives you could look at things from, we'll never know how career would've turned out if he left Roma. It may have catapulted his status even higher or he may have really struggled to win elsewhere.

 

[MessiCam]

Yeah, I think the reason he hasn't signed yet is to put pressure on the board to work hard in the January window. At least I hope so. I don't think he wants to leave at all.

I wish for this to be true but unfortunately no amount of Messi pressure can force other teams to sell their players if they don't want to. Other than that the club also have an interest in this... If Messi delays signing beyond the 31 December 2017 then the club are powerless to stop him openly negotiating with other clubs. I just don't see them being that generous. It's Messi we're talking about here.

That's why I say if he doesn't sign soon he has no intention of doing so.

 

[MessiCam]

I want to believe he will wait until the board delivers with good signings and he'll be convinced and stays

I wouldn't hold it against him if he wants a new challenge and moves to a new country/league just would be terrifying to see how we would react come 2018/19 season..

i guess the board surely will have to be kicked out if messi leaves for free?

The board won't survive Messi being allowed to leave on Bosman. No way.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

The board won't survive Messi being allowed to leave on Bosman. No way.

This. Messi can put them under massive pressure. If the management loses Neymar and Messi year to year, they should be fired.

They know they can't lose Messi. Messi is Barcelona right now. I can't imagine this team without him, we would be God awful.

 

[kilian]

If they lose Messi, they should be exiled from Catalunya, not fired.

 

[raskolnikov]

I hope he puts pressure to get new players not just to get another raise.

 

[MessiCam]

I hope he puts pressure to get new players not just to get another raise.

That time has come and gone. Pressure or no pressure if he doesn’t sign soon the club is powerless with regard to Messi come January which is when the window opens. After the Neymar fiasco do you think they’d take that chance?

 

[Horatio]

We technically have until a little after January. Messi won't immediately sign a new contract at a new club once the opportunity arises. He will take his time to consider this]things carefully.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

We technically have until a little after January. Messi won't immediately sign a new contract at a new club once the opportunity arises. He will take his time to consider this]things carefully.

What do you think he's been doing all this time?

Just because he can only sign for another club in January doesn't mean he hasn't thought about possibly leaving yet and the possible destinations he could move to.

Once January 1st arrives he can just choose any club (that can afford him) he wants to go to go to and they'll hand him a blank-cheque, there will be were little in negotiations going on, he can just name his price and term.

I'd imagine he'll know exactly where he wants to go, or whether he wants to stay by January, but he'll probably let his contact run down until June if he were to leave since signing for another club for the next season while still playing for Barca would not bode well for our success this year.

 

[Horatio]

What do you think he's been doing all this time?

He has until long after January. So he might use that time to see how things pan out at the club. When the time comes that he can negoiate freely in January more and more people will approach him make (false) promises and teammates will try harder to convince him. That's when the real panic breaks out. He will become more confused and probably use some more of the time he has to come to his decision. He can leave Man City hanging in the meantime. He has a strong position as the best player that he is.

Psychology reading 101.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

He has until long after January. So he might use that time to see how things pan out at the club. If he is a free agent in January more and more people will approach him make (false) promises and teammates will try harder to convince him. That's when the real panic breaks out. He will become more confused and probably use some more of the time he has to come to his decision. He can leave Man City hanging in the meantime. He has a strong position as the best player that he is.

Psychology reading 101.

Fair enough, if he's going to leave it's going to be after his contract truly expires in June.

 

[MessiCam]

And the disruption this meandering causes for Barça? Not just leaving them hanging in the summer but all the speculation that goes with it from January... The club aren’t that naive. This is Messi we’re talking about not Neymar.

They’ll insist he sign before January and if he doesn’t then planning will begin for the future.

 

[Horatio]

And the disruption this meandering causes for Barça? Not just leaving them hanging in the summer but all the speculation that goes with it from January... The club aren’t that naive. This is Messi we’re talking about not Neymar.

They’ll insist he sign before January and if he doesn’t then planning will begin for the future.

They won't insist he signs before January. They might request it, but they won't present an ultimatum. Even if they did, if Messi comes knocking in April they would still eagerly accept him. I am also not expecting Messi to announce his decision on the last day of transfer window in summer.

But I do believe Messi will try to buy some time beyond January IF he truly considers Man City an option.

 

[MessiCam]

They won't insist he signs before January. They might request it, but they won't present an ultimatum. Even if they did, if Messi comes knocking in April they would still eagerly accept him. I am also not expecting Messi to announce his decision on the last day of transfer window in summer.

But I do believe Messi will try to buy some time beyond January IF he truly considers Man City an option.

They will insist for the protection of the club and to save their jobs. If he refuses then his intention to at the very least consider a move will be apparent and if he doesn’t sign he leaves at the end of June 2018 and not the last day of the window.

Buying time accomplishes nothing in this instance. Not for him and not for Barcelona.

 

[Mitchell1978]

From what i've read the club has been very reluctant to put any sort of pressure on him to effectively sign the contract.

But lets be reall y'all are just speculating, no one here knows what he's thinking or what he's planning to do.
What we do know is that his father has signed the image-rights contract with Barcelona, if Messi leaves with that signed that would create a weird and probably unsustainable situation for everybody involved so i still think he probably won't leave but again its just speculating.

In his last interview he said he enjoys playing every weekend and he doesn't know what the future brings and maybe that exactly what he's thinking.