Victor Font convinced to get Lionel Messi to commit his future with the club.
Lionel Messi has entered the final year of his contract and will be allowed to agree a pre-contract with a club as early as next month.
Victor Font, one of the nine presidential candidates is hopeful of persuading Messi to stay at Barcelona and also believes former teammate Xavi can play a key role in this matter.
“I’m convinced that with a competitive, exciting and, especially in Messi’s case, long-term project — one that could even go beyond the day that Messi retires — we will convince him to stay,” Font told ESPN in an exclusive interview.
“Messi is the best player in the history of the No. 1 sport in the world. Imagine what that means. For that reason, the Messi-Barca association is a strategic one and we must do everything possible to guarantee the association lives on.
“Keeping in mind he can speak with other clubs in January, phoning Messi [if I win the election] must be one of the priorities.”
“[Xavi] is one of the most important parts of the sporting project we have designed,” he added.
“The fact Messi and Xavi know each other [is good]. Xavi is someone Messi trusts. I know Messi would welcome the leadership Xavi can bring.
“But it’s about the whole project, not just one person. What’s important in the Messi case, to excite supporters again and, above all, to emerge from the complicated situation the club is in at all levels, is the whole project. It’s not one name or a coach, it’s the whole structure.”
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