Argentine star Lionel Messi met his new coach, Dutchman
Ronald Koeman, with the first returning to the club’s
headquarters after weeks of “tugging” on the issue of the transfer.
After Messi’s decision to stay, the Argentine star underwent a
Corona virus test, which came in negative, to go to his first
individual training at the club, and to meet the new Dutch coach.
According to the newspaper “Sport”, Messi arrived very early to
the club’s headquarters, and sat with Koeman, who in turn
asked Messi to fully commit and give to the new project, and to
be an active element in it. According to the newspaper, Coman
believes he can restore the enthusiasm of the Argentine star.
After days of quarrels between Messi, aged 33, and the club that
has been defending the colors of his first team since 2004,
the best player in the world was seen driving his “Mercedes”
towards the sporting city of Sant Joan Desby at around four
o’clock local time. He is taking part in the exercises for the first
time under the supervision of the new Dutch coach Ronald Koeman.
Two weeks ago, Messi hit Barcelona fans with a great shock,
when he sent a request to the club’s management during which
he expressed his desire to leave “Camp Nou” for free, based on
a clause in his contract that allows him to do so at the end of the
season, and a year before the end of the relationship between them.
However, Barcelona’s response came as a categorical refusal, as
the administration confirmed that the aforementioned clause
expired last July, and that any club wanting to include the “flea”
must pay the value of the penalty clause of 700 million euros.
On Friday, Messi changed his mind and decided to stay at the
club for the next season until the end of his contract to avoid
entering into a legal dispute, but he opened fire on club
president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who accused him of “not
keeping his word.”
