I want Messi to stay with Barcelona forever - President Bartomeu

Argentine Forward Lionel Messi in action for Barcelona - Getty

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed that that he wants the club’s Argentine star Lionel Messi to remain linked to the club forever and that he plans to sit down with the forward soon to discuss extending his contract.


Messi, 31, penned a deal with the Spanish champions less than two years ago that runs until the summer of 2021.

He has already scored 42 goals in all competitions this season and Bartomeu is already thinking about what would be his 10th, and potentially last, professional deal at Camp Nou.

Bartomeu said: “We want him to have a really long career so we can keep on enjoying him.”

“Lionel’s managed to break down borders. Everyone admires him and he’s applauded at other stadiums by rival fans,” Bartomeu told ESPN in an exclusive interview.

“We would like to renew his contract, that’s the idea. He is young — you can see that [in his performances] — and he still has two years on his deal. He’s always improving, always innovating. I believe he still has many years in front of him and in the coming months we will sit down with him so that he has many more years at Barcelona.

“Messi is a one-club man. It’s more than what he does on the pitch — his relationship with Barca will last forever. I use the example of Pele, who was always at Santos. We want Messi to always be at Barca, whether that’s playing or linked to the club [when he’s retired].”

Messi is already Barca’s record goalscorer with 594 goals and he recently surpassed Andres Iniesta to become the player with the second most appearances in the club’s history (676). Only Xavi Hernandez (767) has made more.