There is currently both a huge demand and a massive pressure on Barcelona captain Lionel Messi to sign a new contract extension at the club but the situation is a complicated one and it is also one that he has to put under serious thoughts before arriving at a reasonable conclusion. The Barca superstar revealed last summer that he wanted to leave the club and was ready to seek a new adventure at another club in a different country, but he was not allowed to fulfill his desire.
In the public interview where he broke the news, he said he was tired of always being targeted as the cause of the problems at the club and felt that if he left, he would be spared all the blames. But after being blocked from securing a move away, he remained at the club and continue playing for the team on the condition that there would be positive changes made within the club.
Continue reading VERMAELEN: MESSI CURRENTLY IN A VERY TIGHT POSITION
The club were able to make Messi rescind his decision and remain at the club but it remains to be seen how long he can remain for, with many believing that he is still unhappy at the club and has already set his mind on leaving the club he has been at since he was a kid.
Speaking in a press conference, Valverde said that any team would prefer to seal the title at the earliest and they are optimistic of doing so this month, he said: “A lot of people ask me if we want to get La Liga boxed off and that’s what anyone would want to do. We want to win La Liga, whenever that may be and we’ll see if we can get that done. It looks easy on paper: a win here, a draw there, we win it on a certain day but we have a lot of good teams to face with a lot to play for and things aren’t easy.”
Speaking after the game, Ter Stegen admitted that Messi always turns up for the La Liga holders and nobody can compare him with any other player. However, the shot-stopper wanted respect for the other players within the squad and insists they were equally influential towards the final result on the night, he said: “Lionel Messi always turns up for us, everyone knows his level and nobody can compare to him. But while Leo always is fantastic, there are ten other players in our team who helped us in this victory too, we are a team and not just one individual.”