Lionel Messi’s father to resume Barcelona talks with club president

Crunch talks over Lionel Messi’s future at Barcelona are expected to resume on Thursday after his father and agent flew in from Argentina.

Jorge Messi boarded a private jet taking him from Rosario to Barcelona and landed in the private terminal of the El Prat airport at around 6.45am on Wednesday morning

He then arrived at the Fundacion Leo Messi, where he conceded to Spanish television programme El Chiringuito that it is “difficult” his son will stay at Barcelona.

However, he said that “there is nothing yet” in terms of a possible move to Manchester City and that he had not spoken to Pep Guardiola

Messi senior was due to meet Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the rest of the Barcelona board to resolve the impasse between player and club over the forward’s contract situation.

Talks were described as ‘exploratory’ and not much progress has been made, with a new face-to-face meeting with the board expected to take place on Thursday.

Messi no longer considers himself a Barcelona player and did not turn up to the club’s Covid-19 testing on Sunday and subsequent start of training sessions on Monday.

The 33-year-old, who has played for the Spanish team for almost 20 years, informed the club last week he wants to leave.

outh American football expert Tim Vickery:

“He’s a little bit like his son in that he is difficult to read, he’s not someone I’d like to play poker against. But I think the main power here is with Lionel.

“It is Lionel who is 33 – who unfortunately for us all is closer to the end than the beginning of his career – and it is Lionel who really wants to spend the last few years of his top-class career in an environment where he feels respected by the people that run the club he is playing for.

“He wants to feel he is in a competitive environment where he can have a chance of winning the Champions League so I think the power is not with the dad, it’s with the son.”