Bartomeu Insists Messi Will Remain At Barcelona
By Emmanuel Awosika
Barcelona’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, has said Lionel Messi will be a part of the new-look Barcelona under the tutelage of Ronald Koeman.
Bartomeu, currently under fire for his perceived role in the crisis rocking Barcelona, said Messi would be “the pillar” for Koeman’s Barcelona team.
Multiple outlets have suggested that Messi, 33, could leave Barca after a disastrous season that saw the Catalans surrender the La Liga to rivals Real Madrid and crash out of the Champions League in a shock 8-2 loss to German club Bayern Munich.
Bartomeu indicated he had not spoken with Messi himself, but had talked with the forward’s father many times.
More importantly, Ronald Koeman has indicated Messi will play a central role in the Barcelona team, according to Bartomeu.
“I have spoken with Koeman and the pillar of our project is Messi,” Bartomeu stated.
“He has a contract until 2021, I speak a lot with Leo and more regularly with his father. He is number one in the world. There is no doubt that in Koeman’s new project you can count on Messi most of all.”
Bartomeu, addressing reporters from Barcelona TV, said Barca would always create a system that favored Messi, who is the club’s highest goalscorer in history.
“Messi is disappointed, like everyone else. We have to be optimistic. We had to mourn for a day or two, but now we rise up,” he said.
“We always think of a system that favours Messi’s abilities. We have him 100 per cent.
“Within this era there are different cycles. Perhaps now another begins, but also within the Messi era,” he said.
