Lionel Messi has played for FC Barcelona since he was involved in youth soccer, moving from Newell’s Old Boys to Barca in 2000 when he was only 13 years old.
And while many can guess that he’s content with the squads accumulated over the seasons, a simple statement has fed speculation that Lionel Messi will exit Camp Nou in the near future.
“We’ll see,” he said. “Football has a lot of twists and turns. I always said that I’d like to stay there forever, but things don’t always work out as you want them to.”
It’s very typical of any player to voice this opinion, and assuming that Messi wasn’t happy at Barcelona right now is not necessarily sensible. He’s won so many personal and team-related accolades that the speedy midfielder appears to not desire another club’s jersey.
Javier Mascherano, the Argentine’s teammate for four seasons, harped on this particular view, questioning the validity of the media’s beliefs.
“Messi didn’t say anything weird, he said what all football players are thinking,” he said at conference today, via Goal.com. “He is fine and wants to keep winning with Barca. As I know Leo, I think he’s experiencing a great time, not only in football but also in his private life.”
“Can you be certain that Leo has problems with Barca? Where did you read it? I didn’t see anything about it. I don’t need to convince you, it is the truth. I have always heard from Leo a lot of thankfulness towards Barcelona. He’s one of the greatest players to have ever played the game and has always been professional.”
Unless something drastic occurs that sees him out in the next year, a safe assessment would have Messi staying at Barcelona until his contract is up in 2018. If Blaugrana want more value out of him, he could leave slightly earlier, but since Messi is still clearly one of the best in the world, three years time shouldn’t ruin his level of play.