Messi intent on leaving Barcelona; Bartomeu resignation offer changes nothing

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has offered his resignation if Lionel Messi will stay at the club, but the player is not going to change his mind on leaving, reports Onda Cero.

It follows multiple reports from Spain on Thursday that Bartomeu would resign if Messi publicly confirms that, in those circumstances, he would be willing to stay.

Indeed, a report in Marca claimed that Messi would not flinch by the news of the club supremo offering to leave his role as it does not change his intentions or belief in leaving.

The reports coming from the player’s camp suggest that Bartomeu is now using this as a PR move in an attempt to save his image in the public domain.

He is now able to say that he put the club before himself and that the 33-year-old’s intentions to leave go beyond him on a personal level.

The besieged club president is serving his final term of presidency and has confirmed elections for March 2021, but many supporters believe the time is now for him to exit the club and indeed groups of fans surrounded the Camp Nou on Tuesday and chanted for his resignation.

Those protests continued into Wednesday, but it coincided with reports that Messi’s decision was final and would not be influenced by Bartomeu’s future.

Tags Josep Maria Bartomeu Lionel Messi
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