The chess match between Messi and Barça continues. If on Thursday President Bartomeu moved a piece, sending the player the message that he would be willing to resign in exchange for getting him to stay, now it is the Argentine who has responded. Again, no public statements. He did so by requesting a meeting, probably online, to discuss the departure of the club. The club’s answer is clear. They have no problem meeting their captain, but they don’t want to discuss his departure. That is, the situation remains blocked.
Each party, well advised by experts and lawyers, calculates each move. On Thursday, President Bartomeu used the press to send a message to the player, who did not take the calls. If Bartomeu had initially stated that he would meet with Messi to try to solve the case, after receiving pumpkins he had to send the message in other ways: he was willing to resign if Messi said publicly that he wanted to leave because he did not have good relationship with Bartomeu. A move that sought to break Messi’s silence and that seemed to be a personal dispute, not a general disappointment of Messi with the Barça project. But Messi has not stung the hook. He is silent, aware that talking now would weaken him. In addition, Bartomeu offered to separate himself, but not the board, which would have followed. It was a swampy ground for the Argentine, who was in charge of getting it to the press who would speak when he thought he had to do it.
And he hasn’t done it yet, although he has moved a piece. Manchester City do not want the case to be a scandal and Messi also does not want the case to end up in court, which is why he opts for a meeting in which the two sides will arrive with positions far apart. Messi does not give up a meter in his position to pack and go to Manchester City, the club with which the player’s father is in contact, planning the strategy to follow, while PSG or Inter are trying to change Messi’s mind and enroll him in his project. Barça are not moving either, because they will not officially allow the Argentine to leave. Now, behind the doors of the club there are debates that are being tried not to be made public. More than one manager and worker believes that the best thing to do is to agree to negotiate with the City, if it is an operation worth more than 200 million euros, between money and footballers that the English propose to include.
The meeting, then, may not take place, as Bartomeu believes that no debate is possible. Messi has a contract and should stay. And offers are not accepted either. If you want to leave, someone will have to pay the 700 million of the termination clause, a figure that no one can pay. The game continues and both parties play with the schedule. Barça know that Messi doesn’t have much time either because he will have to pass the PCR tests on Sunday and train with Koeman on Monday. But the player also plays with the calendar and knows that the motion of censure that has been organized against the president may add pressure to Bartomeu. A motion that, in less than twenty days, it will be known whether to vote or not. And in twenty days the transfer market will remain open. The game is still open.
If Barça do not want to meet or negotiate, Messi will have the next move. And this could be not attending the PCR tests in the Sports City on Sunday, as his lawyers have advised. It would be a way to get back on the hard line, after seeing that by proposing a meeting, he hasn’t been able to move much forward.
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