Will he or won’t he? Will he stay or will he go? Nobody knows at the minute. Lionel Messi is free to choose where he will play next season. Despite the talk of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain being interested in his services, the 34-year-old is keeping quiet about his future.Oldie but goldie: The market is full of world-class free agentsOne of the best players the world has ever seen hasn’t got a contract, but he still has a club. This is what the former Barcelona skipper Xavi Hernandez believes. “The football market is difficult to predict. We have to wait and see what happens. I presume that Messi is talking to the club and the president. I wish Leo the best, as his friend and as a Barcelona supporter. I wish him to continue at Barca and I hope it can be announced as soon as possible. If I had to bet, I would say that he will stay. But anything can happen in football. Leo needs Barca and Barca needs Leo. He is happy in the city of Barcelona, he has been around his whole life. I would bet he renewed.”Xavi, who is regarded as the future Barca head coach, is currently based in Qatar, but still has a strong connection to the club where he’s spent his entire career. He probably knows what he’s talking about – at least Barcelona fans will be hoping so.Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or winning year in 2019 will be in the Hall of Fame forever 🐐 pic.twitter.com/d1uNQzXV3h— TM (@TotalLeoMessi) July 1, 2021 So far, Barca have only been able to move on fringe players during the transfer window, with Juan Miranda, Jean-Clair Todibo, Matheus Fernandes and Konrad de la Fuente all departing. Left-back Junior Firpo is set to move to Leeds United, too.However, the club has hit a brick wall when it has come to getting rid of big earners. There has not yet been any movement on Neto, Samuel Umtiti, Philippe Coutinho or Miralem Pjanic.
