Messi halts renewal talks and wants to leave Barcelona in June 2021
According to Cadena Ser, the Barça star is fed up of being blamed for all the problems at the club and wants to leave at the end of his current deal.
Leo Messi has brought a halt to contract renewal talks with Barcelona, according to Spanish journalist Manu Carreño on radio station Cadena Ser. The talks appeared to be going well, according to the initial conversations between his father and Barcelona president Bartomeu, but the Argentinean is now planning to leave the club when his current deal finishes in June 2021.
Messi had the option to leave Barcelona up to 10 June this year, by simply choosing to leave, however he decided not to exercise that option, meaning his current contract, initially signed in November 2018, continues through to 30 June 2021.
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Messi fed up at Barcelona
According to these reports, Messi is fed up of all the problems surrounding the club, the leaks, the strange atmosphere that constantly surrounds the dressing room and above all, the fact that certain sections of the club always blame him for everything that goes wrong at the Camp Nou. Messi has told his inner circle of his frustration, complaining that he does not want to be held responsible for anything other than his performances on the pitch. Messi has even gone so far as to share his plans with the most important players at the club.
Messi is also said to be angry at the sporting decisions taken by the club, who have failed, he feels, to provide him with the right players to support him. His differences with the sporting bosses at the Camp Nou, with public discrepancies with Eric Abidal and his disagreements with coach Setién are well known, as is his failure to understand why the club didn't make an effort to bring back Neymar.
The Argentinean also feels that the recent poor results, which have opened the door for Real Madrid to win the title, have been blamed on him. He feels others have blamed him for influencing the team selection, in order to choose players he's closer to, such as Luis Suárez and Arturo Vidal, in detriment to Antoine Griezmann.
Messi scored his 700th goal against Atlético and he still has a chance of winning LaLiga (unlikely after Real Madrid's win over Getafe) and the Champions League, but his recent problems with Setién and Eder Sarabia, and above all the criticism he's received for his behaviour towards the coaching staff and leaks of private conversations appear to have worn him out.
Messi had intended to stay at Barcelona, if he was physically able to, but it now appears he's changed his mind. This is yet another hammer blow for the club. Messi said several months ago that the team didn't have enough to win the Champions League, an idea Setién publicly refused to agree with. Messi responded that he had more experience of the competition. Now, with Madrid four points ahead at the top of the table, LaLiga seems nigh-on impossible and Messi is beginning to see the end of his Barcelona career.