What Lionel Messi wants to stay at Barca
Project, project and project. Leo Messi will take a decision on his future at the end of the season. And he will do it based on the project that Barcelona present to him. Above all, including the finance side, he needs to play in a competitive team. And that means a team that has a real chance of winning the Champions League. Something he has not done in the last six years. Messi, fed up of false promises, will not let emotions take him away. Mentally he’s ready, since last summer, for anything. In the moment he sent that famous burofax, the Argentine star took on the emotional consequences of his decision. Including on a family level. Messi’s priority in the final years of his career at the top is to win big titles and prepare adequately for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, his last chance of winning it with Argentina. If Laporta wants to keep Messi he will not only need to offer him a good contract, but a team that can win. With big signings. And that costs money. A lot of money. Money that Barca, it seems, don’t have.
Laporta has conducted an internal audit to find out the truth about the club’s economic situation. And until he gets the result he won’t know if there’s the financial muscle to pull in the players that the project needs. Among them, Erling Haaland. Signing the best No 9 in the world will be expensive. Very expensive. Dortmund won’t let him go for less than 180 million euros. Madrid, Bayern, Man City, Man United and Liverpool are also after him. Laporta will have to work magic to convince Messi and sign Haaland. City have given up on the former, believing Messi will stay at Barca and focusing on the young Norwegian instead.
