100 days until Lionel Messi makes a decision on his Barcelona future...

It could be that Lionel Messi has always been more Argentine than Argentines themselves believed. It could be that, behind that image of sobriety, there are hidden emotions.

Even when he was younger, so reserved, it was difficult to decipher. But even then his silence explained as many things as his outbursts, which he also had when he was frustrated. A few months ago, he confessed to Jordi Evole that he struggled to express himself, that he kept a lot to himself.

"I should have been to a psychologist but I never have," he said. "I struggle to take the first step, even knowing I need it. Antonella told me to take the step, she insists I go. I keep everything and don't share and I never took the step. I know I need it for my day-to-day life, that it would do me good, but I don't do it."

That would explain why when he explodes he does so without reserve, as happened this summer with the burofax. That had been brewing. First came the doubts, then he became annoyed and, finally, he was fed up.

The 2-8 in Lisbon was just the verification that things were being done badly. But Messi didn't just feel that the sporting project was falling to pieces. He was also increasingly uncomfortable with the president at the time, Josep Maria Bartomeu.

On various occasions, he'd translated his desire to leave last summer, but Bartomeu kept him waiting, palming him off. There wasn't a good relationship with sporting director Eric Abidal, either, and the experience with Quique Setien as coach bought all those frustrations to the surface.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MESSI

Setien explained in an interview with El Pais how self-demanding Messi is. And how that makes it hard to manage the top players in sport, comparing him with Michael Jordan.

"The level of demand is so huge these days that football has imbued him and many others with the need to permanently win," Setien said. "It's true some players don't find it easy to deal with that, among them Leo."

At 33, Messi has been thinking short-term for a while. They know that at Barça, where he's always made it clear what his priority is to continue at the club: a competitive sporting project.

Messi wants to play for a team that aspires to win the Champions League. And in recent seasons he's felt that "right now we're not at that level."

That sporting side of things played a key role. As did the private sphere. The exits of players like Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal took him out of his comfort zone, denying him of his most intimate circle inside the dressing room.

And in that context, with Messi angry, is when Koeman appeared.

The Dutch coach went to his house to meet with him. He tried to make feel key in his project. But he didn't convince him. Messi announced that he wanted to leave, the conflict with Bartomeu was made public and he ended up staying against his will rather than taking the club to court over a clause he felt allowed him to walk away for free.

For him to end up breaking Xavi Hernandez's appearance record at Camp Nou this week, many things have had to happen.

😍 Leo #Messi se ha convertido en el jugador con más partidos de la historia del Club. Un hito increíble que costará mucho que alguien pueda superar, pero...

🤔 ¿Cuáles han sido los últimos portadores de este récord?

🔙 ¡Repasamos la historia culé para descubrirlo!
👇👇👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/6wELCwos1n

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) 22 de marzo de 2021

The first thing: enjoying football again. Messi is always happy when he plays, winning, scoring goals and feeling surrounded by good players. On the bench, he's found an accomplice in Koeman. Someone that has given him confidence when he wasn't in the best place.

But also someone that has known how to create the environment for him to perform. Koeman has looked for players that fit with the No.10. Starting with Pedri. The Canary Islander was one of the first to open Messi's mind. The two have a natural chemistry that can be seen when they play, they view space and time in the same way.

It was explained on 'Catalunya Ràdio' by the journalist Ricard Torquemada:

“In recent times, Messi looked at coaches and some teammates with a lack of confidence because the ball wasn't arriving where it arrived before. What did he do? He took refuge in small societies. And that was bad for him and for Barça. What's the best thing that is happening now? That he's opening his mind and finding new company."

Without the link up with players like Suarez, Messi has had to turn to other players, like Pedri.

But not just Pedri, other players have also taken steps forward who hadn't quite clicked with him before, like Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann.

Koeman's 3-5-2

The switch to 3-5-2 has given the team order and brought the best out of nearly every player. The team is more together, pressed better in attack, wins back more ball... and that has always played in favour of Messi and Sergio Busquets.

The change of system has arrived with the reconstruction of the team with many young players.

Their energy has passed on to the veterans, but above all has changed the image of a fatal future that had been sewn in the club during the pandemic and results at the tail end of last season.

Barça's season stopped being a transition year the moment Messi re-discovered his form

Messi is also having an important role with young players like Pedri, Ronald Araujo, Oscar Mingueza, Sergiño Dest and Ilaix Moriba. Messi's change of mood is the club's change of mood. As soon as he overcame his frustration, the atmosphere in the dressing room changed.

In recent months, performances have been proving little by little on the pitch. Messi's been re-finding his best form and there has been a competitive click at Barça.

The situation in La Liga (four points off the top) and in the Copa del Rey (into the final) cannot be explained without the best possible version of Messi at 33.

Koeman has said: "Messi is a giant, luckily he plays for us. When he's on the pitch, the team transform, his teammates hold on to him and, in contrast, the opposition have fear."

Laporta's big challenge is to match Messi's pretensions with the club's financial problems

A few months ago, everyone thought it was a given that Messi's time at Barcelona would end in June.

But now the sensation is that things are changing. Above all because of symbolic gestures like going to vote in the presidential elections this month.

That gesture was a commitment to the club's future. It was also a welcome democratic image that showed why Barcelona are a special club. That Joan Laporta won, the candidate closes to Messi, has contributed to the optimism.

So far, Laporta has been as Laporta as you could expect with the issue. During his inauguration, he sent a message to Messi, who was seated in front of him.

"I am here to make decisions, to try to convince Leo to stay. Whatever he does will be fine, but he should know that Barça love him a lot. I am sure that with the stadium full, you wouldn't want to leave," he said.

Laporta's a great communicator. He also gets on well with the players. But he knows that he will need something extra for Messi to stay.

The first thing is a convincing sporting project and the second is a competitive contract. It won't be easy to make big signings or make a hugely generous offer due to the club's financial situation. But he's achieved the most important thing: making Messi open to staying.

In reality, he has always rejected the idea of a change of scenery. He went through it as a kid, having to leave his family behind when he left Argentina. And he doesn't want his kids to go through the same.

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