Barcelona captain, or rather their former captain, Lionel Messi is out of contract. His contract with Barcelona ended on 30th June and the club and the player hasn’t reached an agreement yet due to the financial position of Barcelona.
Barcelona are in debt and have a high salary wage bill which goes against La Liga rules. So they would have to reduce their wage bill in order to resign Messi along with registering new signings Aguero, Garcia and Depay.
Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman has spoken about the Messi situation at a charity golf tournament. He said, via Marca: “Whenever an issue is not resolved, you have to be concerned. But I have full confidence in our president to fix this issue and hopefully because it is very important for the club, but also for LaLiga that the best player in the world remains and we all have to do an effort for him to continue with us. “
“Each one defends his own task and Laporta told me yesterday to be calm, that we are working on this issue and we have the confidence to reach an agreement with Leo and continue for a few more years and, furthermore, on the issue of the league.”
“It would be the best, to know the available team, the players you are going to have … but we already know that because of the tournaments we have, we can work with the team for a few days. Until August things can happen, but yes, it is very complicated”
“Each one, as I said, thinks about their own things, about defending themselves and we already know that there are rules that all clubs have to comply with, but I don’t know more about this matter.
“He [Messi] has always shown that he wants to continue with Barça and they are working to reach an agreement. Leo is playing Copa América, he has other things on his mind and hopefully he will win the final against Brazil. He has always done his best for this club and hopefully that go on and, for me, you have to go on because ending up with another shirt is not good. “
“I will have all the players we have and, if there is a change, we must accept it but that is a matter for the club. We try to improve the team and we will see who will stay and who will leave. There are many decisions that we cannot say today. Griezmann? He is very important because he has shown his quality, he has been a great signing for Barcelona and I have all the players I have at the moment. “
“The most important thing of all is to do the maximum so that Leo stays. That is the most important thing, because it is the future of this club. His effectiveness every year is maximum and you have to try the maximum so that he stays.”
“All of us who know about the state of the club are concerned. Because of the COVID issue, the club has not been able to do things, there was no public, museum … The salary issue, the club tries to lower and it is important. Everyone has to to know at the moment we are in, that we have to accept it. They are Barça people, of many years and I think that on the part of the players we have to make an effort to move forward and improve our squad. “
“Like last year, the players helped the club and, if they need to help a little more, you have to make an effort, like me as a coach. It is trying to do your best.
“If we count the midfielders, we are missing something. It is important to have the best player for all positions.”
“Pep said something important the other day and I agree. For a player, if he is old or very young, it is not good to do two big tournaments during a summer. In the case of Pedri, at 18 years old, he has played everything and have four days of partying and a trip to Japan … and when I return LaLiga will have already started … we must protect the players. As a personal opinion, the Olympiad is more athletics than football. I understand the players because they are in the middle of the game. club and the Federation and they have to accept “.
“We will lose three players Mingueza, Eric and Pedri for the start of LaLiga. It is complicated, but for us and other teams.”
