Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu has reassured fans that captain Lionel Messi would not be leaving the club anytime soon.
With the 32-year old not showing any signs of slowing down and recently turning down an offer of a lifetime contract at Barca, fans fear if the Argentine would want to follow the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo to ply his trade elsewhere.
According to Daily Mail, Bartomeu has told fans that he expects the living legend to stay for the immediate future, suggesting the 32-year-old could be with Barca for another five seasons.
‘Leo Messi will still play with us for the next two, three, four or five years. I have no doubts about that,’ Bartomeu said in the post-match press conference following Barca’s 4-1 win over Celta Vigo, in which Messi scored a hat-trick.
‘Surely it will be the wish of all parties, if he (Lionel Messi) feels strong and ambitious, to extend this contract indefinitely,’ said Bartomeu.
‘Ultimately it is he who must decide. He has earned the right to decide when he will stop playing football. But like he said a few weeks ago, he wants to finish his playing career at Barcelona.
‘Over the next two or three seasons, our leader will continue to be Leo Messi. There’s no doubt that he is still young, still strong. He is still ambitious.’
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Messi and Barcelona contract lies till 2021. The clause was added into his current deal which means the club could see him leave the Nou Camp for nothing in the summer.
Bartomeu claimed Messi would not want to leave Nou Camp due to the connection he has with the club and insists Messi is the best player to grace the game of football.
‘I have no doubt that after Messi finishes his career as a footballer, he will remain linked to this club for the rest of his life,’ Bartomeu added.
Messi on Sunday scored his 34th hat-trick in La Liga which helped his club register a win against Celta Vigo and also saw them climb to the top of the table sharing 25 points with rivals, Real Madrid.
With this, Messi equalled the record of Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo as the former Real Madrid player has the same number to hat-tricks to his name.
