Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has returned to the club after completing his holidays this summer. The star attacker is expected to join up with the rest of the Barca squad in their preparations as they continue their pre-season games ahead of the new La Liga season. Messi has been a center of so much speculation in recent times both on and off the pitch having already been linked with an exit from the Camp Nou. However, his return to the club is a huge relief to the fans who have always been urging him to not leave anytime soon.
Although he is currently a free agent, Messi is expected to sign a new contract extension at the club, as confirmed by President Joan Laporta some weeks ago. There have been talks regarding him signing a new deal but there have also been a few problems encountered as well. Messi’s recently-expired contract is a hefty one and Barcelona were told that they would need to cut down players’ wages if they want to sign the Argentina international superstar under another deal.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Alonso said that the Reds have the recent experience of reaching the current stage of the competition and this should give them a boost ahead of their challenge against the Spanish champions, he said: “Yes, they can, because they reached the final last year so now they know how it feels to be there. But we will see. It’s going to be a great, great semi-final to watch and [I’m] really looking forward to it.”
In an interview covered by Marca, Messi said that Real Madrid are a great club but they have been hampered this campaign with Ronaldo’s departure reducing their impact in the forward department, he quipped: “At the beginning of the season I said they are a great club, one of the best in the world and with a lot of great players, but anyone would miss Cristiano. He scores a lot of goals and gives you many other things so it doesn’t surprise me.”
Valverde is coming under immense pressure on already and one of the few joys for Barcelona came in the Champions League where they have picked up back-to-back wins. The summer witnessed several changes in the Barcelona setup and they seem to have missed the magic that made them champions last season. The failure to win the recent matches has been characterised by a lack of creativity and Barcelona are now behind Sevilla going into the international break. Valverde lamented Valencia scoring from one of the few mistakes that Barcelona committed in the match and he is confident of the team recovering back to their best in the near future.
Speaking to Ajax’s television channel, De Jong hinted that he would like to make the switch to a bigger club in the future whilst highlighting his preference to play alongside Barcelona legend Messi, he said:”If you end up at a superior club, you will play with world class players all over the pitch. But for me, honestly, I would like to play with Messi one day.”