Lionel Messi to force Barcelona President’s early exit

Lionel Messi has always been the quiet one among the squad regardless of how famous he grew to become but the latest stunts by Barcelona board and coaching staff have forced him to voice his opinion for the betterment of the club.

A former La Masia graduate, Robert Franch, had famously said that when the Argentine used to play for the Infantil Barca B squad, the players never heard him say anything, even a hello. Leo has always been known to avoid the public eye as he purely focuses on his on-field performance to do his talking.

The current situation at the club has unfortunately forced the club captain to raise his concerns over the direction Barca are moving towards with regards to the decisions made by the club’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and coaching staff, Quique Setien and Eder Sarabia.

Leo has always avoided the politics at the club as he felt it was not his business to discuss the matters that are not about the performance of his squad, but now the politics have been largely influencing the events that are happening on the field which triggered the Argentinian’s response.

What triggered the backlash?

It all started at the beginning of this year concerning the poor performance of the squad under former coach, Ernesto Valverde, where the sporting director and former player, Eric Abidal, shockingly blamed the players for the sacking of Valverde back in January.

This triggered a response from Messi on his social media strongly criticizing Abidal’s public approach to blame the board’s doing on the players when the dressing room have been known to voice their trust on Valverde and his performance.

During the lockdown, many clubs including Barca were looking to have a salary cut to aid their finances and someone on the inside falsely reported that the Barca players have opted against the cut which further damaged the relationship between the players and the management.

Cadena SER‘s recent claim that the Barca no. 10 will not continue beyond his current contract which is expiring in 2021 has no response from the player himself yet, which in itself speaks for the current situation at Camp Nou.

The speculation over Messi’s future is a deliberate decision made by the maestro in order to put pressure on Bartomeu who is up for an election in 2021. It is a public way to inform the voters and the public about his thoughts on the management.

It is a known fact that because of his status in world football, Messi is capable of heavily influencing the politics at Barca but has never felt compelled to use it until the recent decisions made by the hierarchy that have put the squad in a negative light.

Cules await the final days of Bartomeu’s tenure happening next year to have some glimpse of improvement with the election of a new president but the latest rumors stating Messi’s exit if Bartomeu does not resign early has placed a lot of speculation over the president’s future.

Six directors have already resigned earlier this year and now the greatest footballer to ever wear a Blaugrana shirt has also threatened to leave unless Bartomeu resigns, hinting to the possibility of an early exit for the heavily criticized president.