Josep Bartomeu confirms Lionel Messi will sign a new contract with Barcelona and “will find out the difference” after Real Madrid’s reduced transfer ban.
Bartomeu first spoke on Tuesday at a Press conference, where he took stock of Barca’s past 12 months and why the Catalans did not enjoy similar treatment to Madrid from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in their own minors case.
“Madrid’s ban reduced? We’ll look at their official statement and see how they did it,” assured the President.
“We’ll also talk to their lawyers, who also defended us. They are from the same law firm, so we’ll try to find out what the difference was between their case and ours.
“It doesn’t depend on FIFA but rather CAS, which is the entity that must decide how this process continues. We’ll ask what the difference is.
“I said at the time when we were punished that I didn’t agree with it, that it was an excessive sentence for what Barca had done, but I can’t comment any more on other teams.
“I don’t think Real Madrid are the only team that went to CAS about this issue.”
On the topic of Messi’s renewal, Bartomeu added to Sport: “There’s complete desire from both sides for Messi to stay at Barcelona. Leo wants to stay at Barca and Barca want Messi to stay.
“Messi’s the best player in the world and we’ll reach an agreement and continue together because he’s still very young.
“He’s 29 years old and playing at a very high level. He’ll be here for many more years.
“I don’t see any problems for him to stay here until he retires from football.”
