Messi could reconsider decision to leave Barca

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MADRID, Sept 3, (AP): Staying with Barcelona may be an option for Lionel Messi after all. A day after the Spanish club reaffirmed their position not to facilitate a transfer, Messi’s father-agent did not dismiss the possibility of his son reconsidering his decision to leave. Jorge Messi left the prospect open after being briefl y questioned by the Cuatro television channel on Thursday on whether he was considering the possibility of Messi staying for now and leaving for free next year.

The affirmation came a day after there was no agreement in the first meeting between Jorge Messi and Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu. Jorge Messi had said upon arriving in Barcelona on Wednesday that he saw it “difficult” for his son to keep playing for Barcelona. Lionel Messi last week told Barcelona he was invoking a contract clause that allowed him to leave for free at the end of the season, but the club claimed that the clause had expired in June.

Barcelona said it wanted Messi to stay until the end of his contract in June 2021. The contract has a buyout clause of 700 million euros ($837 million). Barcelona said they have offered the Argentine a two-year extension that would keep him with the club through the 2022-23 season. They also wanted to meet personally with the player to try to convince him to stay and finish his career with the club where he started playing nearly 20 years ago.

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