5 reasons why Lionel Messi will stay at Barcelona

#3 Messi’s non-pressing style may not suit another club

Would Messi's non-pressing style suit one of Europe's other giants?

Lionel Messi is undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers of all time. But is he now past his prime? It’s a question worth exploring.

On the surface of it, the answer is definitely no.

Thus far into the 2020-21 campaign, he’s made 24 appearances in La Liga as well as five in the Champions League and four in the Copa del Rey.

And he’s scored a frankly brilliant 24 goals and registered eight assists - a level comparable with any other player in the world.

However, the best teams in the world – the likes of Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool – now use a style that heavily relies on pressing the opposition.

So is Messi compatible with that style of play? There’s some evidence that suggests that he isn’t.

For instance, in 2009-10, the season saw Messi score 47 goals as Barcelona won four trophies. The Argentine averaged 2.1 tackles and interceptions per league game.

His average in the same area this season? 0.7 – meaning he’s dipped by more than half over the past decade when it comes to pressing.

It’s understandable. After all, Messi is now 33 years old, and at the end of the day, it isn’t his job to chase the opposition – it’s his job to score and create goals.

But would one of Europe’s heavy-pressing teams see it that way? Probably not. For, say, Manchester City, signing Messi would mean potentially changing the team’s entire style.

And with that in mind, the conclusion they may well reach is that it simply wouldn’t be worth the hassle.

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#4 Messi may want to help Barcelona climb back to the top

Messi may want to help youngsters like Ansu Fati inspire Barcelona to get back to the top of the game.

While the demise of Barcelona is probably overstated right now – they’re still second in La Liga after all – it’s definitely true that they’re no longer Europe’s dominant force.

In fact, the Catalan giants haven’t won the Champions League – a trophy that was once synonymous with the club – since the 2045-15 season.

There are a number of reasons for this.

The players that made Barcelona such a great team a decade ago have either retired, left the club, or fossilized while remaining at the Nou Camp. Only Lionel Messi is really close to the player he once was back then.

They’ve splashed out millions in an attempt to refresh the squad. However, most of those big-money signings – names like Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann – have failed to set the world alight at the Nou Camp.

It’s pretty clear that to rise back to the top, Barcelona need to not only refresh their squad again but refresh their whole strategy too.

Many fans would suggest that part of that reset should involve Messi departing.

However, if the Argentine is still capable of performing at such a high level, why would the club want to force him out?

And more to the point, wouldn’t Messi – who has been with Barca since he was a teenager - want to stay to help with the rebuild?

Surely it’d be smarter for all parties to keep Messi around as the remaining link back to that great side – while also helping to build the careers of young talents like Pedri, Francisco Trincao, and Ansu Fati.

If he could do that, then Messi would literally be recognized as the greatest Barcelona legend of all time – meaning it’s a no-brainer for him to stick around at the Nou Camp.

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#5 His family are settled in Barcelona

Messi and his family are very much settled in Barcelona - making it unlikely they'd want to leave.

If Lionel Messi is to leave Barcelona, the likelihood is that it’ll be his own choice. The club isn’t likely to force him out, particularly now that Joan Laporta is again the club’s president.

So if he were to choose to move on, not only would Messi have to consider the fact that he’d be leaving a club he’s been with since his teenage years – he’d also have to come to terms with uprooting his family too.

Messi does spend plenty of time back in his Argentine hometown of Rosario with his extended family. But for the most part, he lives in Barcelona with his partner Antonella Roccuzzo and their three children.

And Messi’s family don’t exactly live in any old house, too. According to reports, the Argentine owns a huge, luxury mansion in the suburb of Castelldefels.

The mansion contains a football pitch, an indoor gym, a swimming pool, and overlooks the Balearic Sea.

And reportedly, the mansion sits in a no-fly area, meaning no airplanes can pass over the area.

So given that he’s settled in such a beautiful area of one of the most beautiful cities in the world – and has three young children who’ve grown up in the city – why would Messi want to uproot all of them to move elsewhere?

Sure, he could move to another club and leave his family in Barcelona, returning to them when possible. But particularly in a post-COVID-19 world, where travel may not be so easy, it might not be a choice Messi is comfortable with.

And so, with that in mind, it seems highly likely that the Argentine won’t want to move his family, and in turn, won’t want to depart the Nou Camp this summer.