Barcelona working towards life without Lionel Messi, reveals president Josep Maria Bartomeu
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Barcelona star Lionel Messi is moving closer to retirement and president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said that the club is preparing for life without him. One of the greatest players to ever play, the 32-year-old is still at the peak of his powers and one of the top contenders to win the Ballon d’Or.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed that the club is preparing for a post-Lionel Messi era. The 32-year-old Argentine has dominated Barcelona and football for a little more than sixteen years and in the process become what many regards as one of the greatest ever.
That kind of consistent presence has seen Barcelona depend on the Argentine, with him stepping up time after time. Yet at the age of 32, Messi doesn’t have too much time left and while there have been no talks of retirement yet, Bartomeu has revealed that the club is preparing for a post-Messi stage.
It has already started, with changes happening in and around the Argentine. Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann and even Frenkie de Jong’s arrivals are players that the club could eventually start depending on. Even their persistent chase for Neymar this summer is seen as some sort of chance to replace Messi with a world-class star.
“We think it is our obligation to work on the post-Messi era,” Bartomeu said. “We are thinking about a post-Messi era because we are bringing in new players. We have to think about this changing era when Messi will give up playing football but, as president, I hope that he is going to be (have) very large years playing with us still.”
