Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has dropped his clearest hint yet that Lionel Messi will leave the club this summer.
The Argentinian superstar is set for showdown talks with Koeman and Joan Laporta next month with his contract expiring at the end of the current campaign.
However, as La Blaugrana bowed out of the La Liga title race with an insipid 2-1 defeat against Celta Vigo on the penultimate weekend of the season, Koeman has admitted Messi could now go.
“We hope he will not leave because he is still the best player in the world and he has shown today,” Koeman told a post match interview with Marca.
“It is impossible to play without him.
“He has already scored 30 goals this season, which have given the team a lot of points.
“It is a question for Leo to decide.
“For me and for the team, we hope he stays because if don’t have him, we have doubts about who will score so many goals.”
Messi is set to make an announcement on his future plans at the end of the domestic season but before he joins up with the Argentina squad ahead of this summer’s Copa America tournament.
If he does chose to leave, this defeat will be his final competitive home game for Barcelona, with a final day trip to struggling Eibar on the cards for next weekend.
Image via Getty Images
Is a complicated season with so many ups and downs. Ronald Koeman is not good enough for what Barca needs to progress.
His selection of Players for important matches are ridiculous and He makes panic changes.
Not good for Valencia and Everton, How can he better for Barca? National Teams are okay for him.
Ronald Koeman, is not too good for barcelona and also barcelona squad need rainforcement in midfield and up-front. so if no competitive team for barcelona then messi need to look for competitive team which may challenge for UCL.
Messi proved that he is still the best in the world since he score 40+ goal this season, with 30 goals in league games… so no doubt he had carried barcelona just like he does.
sure if messi leave as now barcelona is finish, messi is more important and useful than koeman trust me guys
A coach is as good as the material he has at his disposal.
What does Koeman have? Pedri, de Jong and Messi as the better or best players in the team. OK, add Alba when he has a good day. The rest? Mediocre at best. He came in late and just had a few weeks to prepare the team for the season. And the bench. Who is on the bench that can come in the game and turn it around?
It’s really easy to blame Koeman and we forget the mismanagement of Bartomeu in the last years and the types of players he has wasted money on.
Koeman is the one supposed to leave
I don’t get people saying setien or Valverde is better than koeman. Barcelona has been inconsistent this season and dropped lots of points unnecessarily. But you have to admit most of those was as a result of individual errors from the players. Koeman is not without blame for his questionable subs at times but I have to say this is the season Barcelona has played the most Beautiful football in a long time and managed to create so much chances and despite not capitalizing on these chances still has most goals in LA Liga this season. I am certain this Barcelona can do great things again with better depth of players the manager trust
I expected a lot in coutinuo but I don’t know now the team we need the best players not everyone to play in barca