The G.O.A.T. Should Remain in Spain

3 reasons why Lionel Messi will stay with FC Barcelona following the resignation of President Bartomeu

by Brendan Smith, Sports O’Clock Writing Team Member

(photo credits: Goal.com and Getty Images)

Lionel Messi’s future has taken another sudden twist following the resignation of FC Barcelona’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu. Messi, unhappy with Bartomeu’s management of Barcelona over recent years, tried to leave the club over the summer but elected to stay to avoid a court case. Barcelona have suffered several embarrassing losses under Bartomeu’s presidency, such as the 4-3 aggregate loss to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League semi-finals and the humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich last summer in the quarter-finals of the same competition. These losses have been largely blamed on Bartomeu and his inability to address issues within the club, such as squad depth and poor finances.

With Bartomeu gone, there is a solid chance Messi could opt to sign a new long-term deal that would tie his immediate future to Barcelona. Here are three reasons why Messi could choose that option over taking his immense talents elsewhere:

1. The new president will try to make Messi happy

Messi is almost guaranteed to be treated like royalty by whoever fills the presidential vacancy. Messi is still arguably the best player in the world and has been the face of Barcelona for the past decade. Messi has made it clear that the finances of his contract are not a deciding factor into whether he stays or leaves, so the new president will have to get creative when deciding how to entice Messi to stay with Barcelona. Perhaps they could give him a bigger say in putting together the squad; for example, he could be involved in the selection and acquisition of transfer targets. Or the new president could hire a manager that Messi would see eye to eye with, which leads into the second reason…

2. The majority of presidential candidates want to hire Xavi as manager

It is no secret that Barcelona eventually want to give the managerial position to Xavi Hernandez, one of Barcelona’s greatest ever players. Xavi, who currently manages Al Sadd of the Qatar Stars League, is highly respected within the club and is seen as an ideal candidate who understands the club and its playing style. Xavi was offered the job in January, but he turned it down to remain in charge of Al Sadd. Messi, who played alongside Xavi from 2004 to 2015, would surely embrace the hiring of his former teammate. Although Xavi turned down the job once already, he could be tempted into accepting it this time with the chance to work for his former club and manage the best player in the world.

3. Messi loves Barcelona

Although there has been bad blood between Messi and the Barcelona board in recent months, it is easy to see that Messi still loves the club. Messi has been with Barcelona since he was 13 years old, and he has won every possible trophy and award while wearing the blaugrana shirt. Messi is still universally adored by Barcelona fans and respected by teammates and coaches, and that will never change. With a new president and board of directors in place, Messi could be convinced to stick with the club he has known for most of his life rather than establishing himself elsewhere.

Barcelona will be conducting a presidential election within 90 days to choose Bartomeu’s successor, but it will be much longer before we know what Messi plans to do with his future. If the new president makes the correct decisions and fixes many of the problems that currently plague Barcelona, Messi will almost certainly wear the Barcelona shirt next season.

(All photos are cited properly. No copyright infringement intended.)