Barcelona President: Messi will be retained at all cost

Dubai: The President of Barcelona has insisted that money is no object in ensuring Lionel Messi remains at the club for the rest of his career.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 10th edition of the Dubai International Sports Conference at the Madinat Jumeirah yesterday, Josep Maria Bartomeu said that the genius No.10 was the best in the world and would be remaining at the Nou Camp, despite rumours that clubs such as Manchester City are prepared to offer susbtantial sums to prise the Argentine away.

Messi attended the first-day of the prestigious conference on Sunday morning alongside Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

“No… No Messi will be with us,” Bartomeu told Gulf News in an exclusive interview. “Lionel Messi has a contract with us and we will renew the contract at all cost. Our desire is that whenever he retires out of football, he retires while playing for our team.

“We have always done everything in our powers to retain him because he is the best,” said Bartomeu, adding that Messi has to be greatly credited for what Barcelona are today.

Four-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi has played a huge role in Barcelona winning five competitions in 2015 - La Liga, the Copa Del Rey, Champions League, European Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

“To me Messi is the best player in the history of football and when he plays things are different,” the President said. I know football is a team game which 11 persons play and everyone has his role and responsibility. However, if you have the best player of the world like Messi in the team, then it makes things easier and enjoyable. For me, he is very unique.”

Bartomeu also hailed the way coach Luis Enrique has gone about his business after replacing Pep Guardiola in 2014. “The coach [Luis] Enrique has done a fantastic job and we are very happy with him. Not just Messi, Neymar, (Luis) Suarez, (Andrés) Iniesta all have played their part equally well. The relationship between coach and players is fantastic. I have been in football maybe for 13 years now and I can tell you that our locker room is like a family. I have never seen such strong bonding in any other locker room like what we have in ours,” revealed Bartomeu.

When asked if retaining their coach for as long as possible is also one of the reasons for his team’s success, something that arch rivals Real Madrid have not done, Bartomeu burst into laughter and said: “It also depends on the coach of course. Look Enrique has this year and the following year a contract and we will try to retain him at the club because he has got good performance from the team. We will also have to see his decision but our decision is to keep him with us as he has done his job.”

With Guardiola already announcing his decision to part ways with Bayern Munich come the end of the season, many are of the view that Barca might be tempted to rope him back to the club.

The former star player and manager has been strongly linked with clubs in the English Premier League, especially Manchester City.

However, Bartomeu revealed that the club has no such ambitious plans - for now.

“Yes, Guardiola is leaving but I don’t know which club he is going. Guardiola is somebody who is very loved by Barcelona and our fans. As a player he brought us two big titles and as a coach he was like a genius and led to the excellence of the club. His life with the club doesn’t end and one day - but I don’t know when and in what position - he will work with us,” said Batomeu, who was confident his team can continue to dominate and stay ahead of Real Madrid for a long period of time.

“We are working every day to accomplish the goal of doing well and be dominant for as long as possible. It is difficult to retain titles and show consistency but now in the last 10 years we have been leading the European scene. We have won Champions League, Spanish League and Club World Cups. Normally, one club doesn’t do so well for so long but we have been able to do that consistently. We, however, want to continue to do that.”