Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font said that Lionel Messi should remain in the "Blaugrana" to lead the team until the end of his football career, and play a strategic role upon his retirement.
Reports indicate that the six-time best player in the world and Barcelona's best scorer ever, was close to leaving the Catalan club in August after having some issues with then-club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Font who actively contributed to the campaign against Bartomeu that led to his resignation in October and has the best chances to win the January 24 elections, believes that the best player in the world can be persuaded to stay at the Camp Nou.
"When you are lucky enough to have the best player in the world in your team, you need to retain that talent," Sky Sports quoted Font.
"If Messi goes to a competitor we will not find an alternative easily as there is no alternative to Messi. So that's why retaining him in the short term is critical," he added.
"But for us the association between Messi and Barca is a strategic relationship and we want to make sure we create the right conditions for Messi to play a role in the club even after he retires. Messi could contribute plenty of ideas." he continued.
Font, a 48-year-old telecommunications entrepreneur, relies on Xavi Hernandez to convince Messi to stay with Barcelona, and he promised to choose him as manager and coach of the team, saying: "Messi needs to be convinced that we have a successful competitive project, and Xavi can play a decisive role in our doing so."
Worth noting is that Messi may leave at the end of this season unless he pens a new contract before the end of June.
Follow the latest news on Google News
