It’s been the name on everybody’s lips since his contract started to get perilously close to ending but it seems that the future of Lionel Messi is still probably at Barcelona.
Of course, he could play for any team in the world and TFF would love to see him plying his trade in the Premier League before the end of his career.
But Messi was surely made for Barcelona and, as mouthwatering a prospect it is, we will probably never see him leave Spain.
And that’s because Barcelona vice-president Jordi Metre has spoken publicly about Barca’s plans to start contract talks in the new year. He said:
“The negotiation with [Lionel] Messi has not started, but we hope that it will be defined during the first quarter of 2017.”
Messi’s current contract expires in the summer of 2018 and, at just 29, he still has a good three to four years at the top level.
He has lost some of his pace in the last few years but adapted his game and now uses his head more than his once frightening pace.
Messi has played 116 times for Argentina and scored 57 goals in an epic career so far. His Barcelona record is ridiculous.
Now in his thirteenth season at the club he has scored 476 goals in 551 games for Barcelona.
He’s won La Liga eight times, the Copa Del Rey four times and the Champions League four times.
He’s also won the Ballon D’Or five times and who is to say he won’t win it again.
So, for all the hype, TFF can’t see Messi playing anywhere else but Barca.