Messi said nothing about his contract situation over the last month while leading Argentina to victory in the Copa América in Brazil. And Barcelona’s new president, Joan Laporta, has tried to present a confident front. “Everything’s on track,” he told news crews camped outside his offices last week, when he and other Barcelona executives had huddled in search of a solution. But the problem is that Messi’s future may no longer be in the player’s hands, or his club’s. A rupture between Messi and Barcelona would be seismic for both sides.

Source: New York Times July 12, 2021 12:57 UTC