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Atletico Madrid captain Koke has revealed that he would be interested in teaming up with Lionel Messi when his contract with Barcelona ends next summer.
Atletico are set to clash with city rivals Real Madrid in the Madrid derby on Saturday and Koke is set to play a key role for his side.
He was also asked to weigh in on the Lionel Messi contract situation at Barcelona that could see the six-time Ballon d'Or winner depart next summer. Koke believes his club would benefit from having a player within their ranks, telling Goal:
“It's difficult. Leo has made his career in Barcelona, it will be difficult for him to get out of there."
“But why not at Atleti? Sometimes talking with friends we laugh a lot and ask ourselves: How would you convince Lionel Messi to come to Atletico?”
The Argentina international is currently among the highest-paid players in the world and Koke feels that the financial package necessary to sign him might be beyond the reach of Atletico Madrid.
He, however, believes that the fact that Los Colchoneros have the desire and hunger to achieve greatness could be the deciding factor in bringing him over.
''Economically it is difficult because you cannot pay the salary that he earns in Barcelona.”
“You never know. Players often measure ourselves by the hunger to win things and things that clubs have not been able to win.''
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez spent six years together at Barcelona, where they struck up an excellent relationship both on and off the field and remain close friends to this day.
Following the Uruguayan's transfer to Atletico Madrid last summer, Koke is hopeful that he could convince his friend to join him in the Spanish capital.
"Maybe Suarez can convince him. It's football, we have a great squad, the players we have are spectacular and hopefully it will be a great year in the Champions League for Atleti.”
Barcelona looking unlikely to give Lionel Messi the perfect sendoff that his amazing career deserves
Barring any remarkable turnaround in the next few months, it is a foregone conclusion that Lionel Messi would depart Camp Nou after over two decades in Catalunya.
Considering his immense services to Barcelona, it is only fitting that he gets a farewell deserving of his abilities - similar to club icons Xavi and Iniesta - but current realities mean that this might not be the case.
For starters, the absence of fans in stadiums due to COVID-19 means that there might not be an opportunity to give him a farewell game, unless things massively improve before May.
More importantly, Barcelona are currently struggling both on and off-the-field. They are already 12 points off the pace in LaLiga after just 10 matches, while they look miles away from the levels required to win the Champions League.
At this rate, it looks highly unlikely that Barcelona would achieve success this season and if this is to be the final campaign of Lionel Messi in Spain, it will represent an anti-climatic end to a brilliant career.
