Meeting between Lionel Messi’s dad and Barcelona president ends in stalemate

Showdown talks between Lionel Messi’s dad and Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu reportedly ended in stalemate on Wednesday.

Jorge Messi had flown in from Argentina to try and thrash out his son’s future after the superstar told Barca last week that he wanted to leave.

Messi’s camp maintain that the forward is a free agent, arguing that a clause in his contract allowing him to leave for free should still be valid after the football season was extended due to coronavirus.

Barcelona are adamant that the clause expired on June 10, meaning any team wanting to sign Messi must meet his €700million (£624m) release fee.

And following Wednesday’s meeting there was no agreement between the parties, according to Mail Online.

The stalemate means Manchester City target Messi will remain on strike, having refused to report for either coronavirus testing or training this week ahead of the new season.

City are favourites to sign the six-times Ballon d’Or winner, who would be sensationally reunited with his former Barca mentor Pep Guardiola at the Etihad.

Paris-Saint Germain and Juventus are also reportedly in the hunt for the 33-year-old forward – opening up the tantalising prospect of Messi teaming up with either Kylian Mbappe and his former Barca teammate Neymar, or his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Inter Milan have also been linked with a move for Messi, although the club’s sporting director Piero Ausilio has indicated that the Serie A giants would not be able to afford him.

While it is not yet known where Messi will be playing next season, it does seem clear currently that it won’t be for Ronald Koeman’s Nou Camp side.

Barcelona won’t want to lose arguably the world’s greatest player for free when his contract expires in just under a year, so one possible scenario is that a compromise will be thrashed out over the transfer fee.

But even if his suitors didn’t have to meet the full £625m release clause to sign Messi, they would still expect to have to shell out big bucks.

His salary alone will be a huge commitment, with Forbes having last year ranked him as the world’s highest-paid athlete on earnings of around £26m per year.

Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font hopes an agreement can be reached so that even after his retirement, Messi can remain associated with the club where he has spent his entire career to date.

“I’m truly hoping reason prevails and as soon as the club and Messi’s father sit down and talk, that the interest of both Messi and Barca will be taken into account and properly protected,” he told TalkSport .

“The ties between Messi and Barcelona are very deep. He came to the city 20 years ago, he’s been playing for this club all his life.

“Messi is Barcelona, Barcelona is Messi, and what we need to ensure is that even if he leaves now these ties between Messi and Barcelona prevail.”

Spanish publication Diario Sport, cited by Mail Online, reported that Wednesday’s meeting between Messi Snr and Bartomeu lasted for around an hour and a half.

Bartomeu reportedly attended the meeting with director Javier Bordas, while Messi was accompanied by his son Rodrigo and lawyer Jorge Pecourt.