Barcelona presidential candidate, Emili Rousaud, has come out to discuss the future of the club's superstar captain, Lionel Messi amid transfer speculation linking him with an exit.
Messi's future remains
an important topic at Barca after he handed in a transfer request following an
unsuccesful 2019-20 campaign.
During the summer he
almost joined Manchester City before opting to remain in Spain, due to legal
disputes he would have entertained with the club had he decided to leave.
Rousaud, who is in the
running for the presidential election which takes place on January 24 following
Josep Maria Bartomeu's resignation in October, discussed Messi's future amid
the coronavirus pandemic.
According to him,
Messi who has less than 7 months on his contract, will leave Barcelona if he
does not accept a pay cut.
"We'll have to
sit down with Messi and ask him to make a salary cut," Rousaud told ARA.
"Right now, with
things as they are, it's unsustainable.
"We'll ask him to
make the sacrifice. If there's no agreement, then Messi will leave."
Rousaud added:
"Messi has written the most brilliant pages in the club's history. We have
to honour our legends, but the reality is what it is.
"I believe that
things have to be said as they are. We can't fool our members. We'll make every
effort to ensure he stays, but always with the interests of the club
first."
Messi, 33, has scored
449 goals in La Liga and he is just one shy of becoming the first player to
reach 450 with just one club in the top five European leagues.
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