Lionel Messi facing Barcelona D-day amid Camp Nou’s power struggle

Barcelona staged one beautiful reversal on Wednesday evening by overturning a two-goal first leg defeat in opposition to Sevilla to succeed in the ultimate of the Copa del Rey.

Now the Catalan membership will probably be in search of an excellent greater miracle on the finish of per week which began with the arrest of the previous president. The brand new boss elected by the membership’s 140,000 members in Sunday’s presidential elections will win the duty of convincing Lionel Messi to remain in Catalonia.

The Argentine’s crazed celebrations of Gerard Pique’s equaliser confirmed his coronary heart remains to be with the membership he joined as a 13-year-old. However will his head inform him now’s the time to maneuver to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City or Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris-Saint Germain? On the age of 33, it’s now or by no means for the six-time Ballon D’Or winner.

This large week for Barcelona started in sometimes weird fashion with the arrest of former president Josep Maria Bartomeu and CEO Oscar Grau within the newest chapter in Barcagate.

The unpopular Bartomeu was compelled to resign in October. However his board had employed an IT consultancy known as I3 Ventures to advertise the membership on social media – and are accused to have used the account to smear opponents of the regime like former stars Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez and Pique and Messi.

Bartomeu was launched on Tuesday and 13 staff of the membership and 6 from I3 Ventures had been interviewed by the police.

The three candidates standing for president this weekend – former president Joan Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Freixa – have all distanced themselves from the previous board and promised change at an establishment which has lurched from disaster to disaster on and off the sphere.

The humiliating 8-2 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in August noticed Messi demand to depart and he was solely prevented from leaving by Barcelona insisting his €700m (£630m) buyout clause was nonetheless legitimate.

“I believed and was certain that I used to be free to depart, the president at all times stated that on the finish of the season I might resolve if I stayed or not,” Messi claimed.

“Now they cling to the truth that I didn’t say it earlier than June 10, when it seems that on June 10 we had been competing for La Liga in the course of this terrible coronavirus and this illness altered all of the season.”

Not wishing to go to courtroom, Messi agreed to see out the ultimate yr of his contract with none additional dedication. The report in Spanish newspaper El Mundo claiming Messi’s contract has seen him earn £500m during the last 4 years didn’t assist his probabilities of staying.

However the 33-year-old remains to be on the Camp Nou – and the brand new president will get the prospect to promote him their imaginative and prescient of a brand new period – and the promise of a brand new group shortly constructed round him.

Outcomes underneath Ronald Koeman have improved with solely two defeats within the final 23 video games in all competitions and Barca sit joint second in La Liga with Real Madrid. However a type of losses was the 1-4 house thrashing within the first leg of the Champions League tie by Paris-Saint Germain to indicate Spanish golf equipment are now not one of the best – or richest – in Europe.

Names corresponding to Sergio Agüero and Georginio Wijnaldum have been touted as short-term options however the likes of Erling Haaland and Matthijs de Ligt would break the bank for a membership €1bn in debt.

However the way forward for Messi dominated election hustings between the three candidates this week. Favorite Laporta, who introduced Ronaldinho and Deco to the membership earlier than he was ousted in 2010, claimed a vote for him is a vote for maintaining the Argentine celebrity.

“I’m satisfied that if the opposite candidates win, Messi is not going to keep,” Laporta stated. “But when I win he’ll keep. He’s not pushed solely by cash. He needs a aggressive group that wins. I’m certain he’ll hearken to my proposal. The funding in Messi has a really vital return. He represents 30% of the membership’s revenue and prices round 8%. The most effective return on this funding, with all he has given, can be emotional and sporting. To make him keep is my massive purpose. I’ve an incredible relationship with Leo and the provide I’ll make will probably be appreciated. But when I do not win, it’s certain that Leo is not going to proceed at Barcelona. “