There is a 90 percent chance that Lionel Messi will decide to fulfil the remainder of his contract at Barcelona until the summer of 2021, say fresh reports in Argentina.
Journalist Martin Arevalo has spoken to TyC Sports in the South American nation tonight to say that Thursday will be a “definitive” day for the player and the possibility is that he agrees to fulfil the remaining one year of his contract at the Camp Nou.
🚨🚨🚨 Cuenta @arevalo_martin en @presionalta: “Hay 90% de chances que Messi siga en Barcelona. Mañana tendrá una decisión definitiva”. 🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/m9Mx69PkdK
— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) September 2, 2020
Mañana define leomessi. Pero hay un nuevo escenario: existen chances concretas de que el mejor del mundo siga hasta junio de 2021 y cumpla su contrato.
A esta altura lo está evaluando. Los dirigentes le pidieron por… https://t.co/2EwShAblQ5— Martin Arevalo (@arevalo_martin) September 2, 2020
Arevalo claims that this is a new development following a period where the player had his heart set on leaving the club this summer as a free agent.
Earlier on Wednesday, Jorge Messi – Lionel’s father and agent – claimed that it would be “very difficult” for the player to remain at the Catalan giants beyond this summer.
The player had previously been insistent that he will leave the club this summer while the Blaugrana are digging their heels in, saying that not only can he not leave as a free agent but that any buying club would have to pay his €700m release clause, or negotiate a fee.
The 33-year-old has a clause in his deal allowing him to leave at the end of any season, and whilst it was thought that deadline passed in June, Marca have reported his camp believe that it has been extended in line with the prolonged 2019/20 season.
The legalities of Messi’s contractual situation are set to now play a key role with reports claiming his €700m release clause at the club is no longer valid although this remains unclear with conflicting claims on the legal grounds on each side.
Why is Messi leaving Barcelona