Weâre working very hard to convince Lionel Messi to stay at Barcelona, confesses Ramon Planes
Barcelona sporting director Ramon Planes has revealed that the clubâs board and internal staff are working very hard to try and convince Lionel Messi to stay at the club. Reports indicated that the six-time Ballon dâOr winner has told Barcelona that he wants to leave this summer on a free-transfer.
After spending well over twenty years with Barcelona, Lionel Messiâs time at the Camp Nou is coming to an end with the Argentine looking to leave the club this summer. The news was first reported on Tuesday night and revealed that the 33-year-old was looking to leave Barcelona as a free agent this summer. The reports further revealed that the forward was looking to activate a clause in his contract that allows him to leave at the end of any season after 2018 for free.
However, while there has been no official statement from either club or player so far, the reports continue to flood the transfer market with Manchester City amongst his top suitors. But speaking at Francisco Trincaoâs first press conference Ramon Planes, admitted that the club are doing everything they can to keep Messi. The Barcelona sporting director further added that the board still believe Messi is going nowhere and that there is no internal divide over the forwardâs future.
"As we have said many times, we're still thinking of Messi as a Barca player. Barca have rebuilt themselves many times throughout history and have always bounced back stronger. Our idea is to rebuild around the best player in the world. There's a huge amount of respect for Leo because of what he is and his story here, but we're not thinking about any contractual clause,â Planes said reported ESPN.
âWe can't have a public dispute between Barca and Messi because neither side deserves that. The marriage between Messi and Barca has given both parties a lot. It has given the fans a huge amount of joy and we have to fight for that relationship to continue. Internally, we're working hard to convince Messi to stay. We want to find the best solution for Barca and for Messi. There is no internal division on this at all. Anyone that understands a little bit about football wants to have Leo in their team."