BARCELONA have been tipped to tie down Lionel Messi and re-sign Neymar by former vice-president Emili Rousaud.
Messi’s Nou Camp deal expires in 2021 and amid a feud with the Barca hierarchy the LaLiga legend is yet to agree an extension, leading to Inter Milan and Manchester City being linked with the Argentine.
However, Messi blasted the transfer links to Serie A side Inter as “fake news” with reports in Spain instead suggesting the league champions are growing confident of tying down the 32-year-old’s future long-term.
And former Barca chief Rousaud – who this month stepped down in protest of how the club is being run – admitted he would be “very surprised” if the Nou Camp skipper did not extend his current contract.
He told ESPN: “I think Messi and Barcelona will reach an agreement over a renewal.
“To reach an agreement, the two parties must make some kind of concession, but I would be very surprised if this beautiful story did not continue for longer.”
Messi’s most recent fall out with Barca came at the club’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and the reduction of players’ wages did not go down well with the captain who was thought to be losing patience.
In February, he hit out at ex-defender and director of football Eric Abidal over comments regarding some players’ commitment and effort around the time of Ernesto Valverde’s sacking.
Messi also said he found it “strange” that the club were forced to deny claims they paid a PR firm to attack star players including the Argentine icon.
The tensions between the six-time Ballon d’Or winner and Barcelona has led to suggestions he could leave the club he has been with since 2001.
But after former Inter president Massimo Moratti suggested the San Siro club could launch an audacious move to sign Messi, reports in Spain insist Barcelona are “completely unfazed” by the comments.
Messi has scored 627 goals in 718 games and won ten LaLiga titles as well as four Champions Leagues.
But in order to keep on winning titles – especially the Champions League – he wants to see more quality players brought in, such as international team-mate Lautaro Martinez and former club colleague Neymar.
Barca failed in a summer effort to buy back Neymar from PSG – the club they sold the Brazilian to in 2017 for a world record £198million fee.
But Rousaud insisted the transfer pursuit is not yet over and believes the forward could be re-signed in a cheaper deal due to the affect the COVID-19 crisis could have on the transfer market.
He said: “I think it’s possible that Neymar could return in the summer. It does not seem to me an impossibility at all.
“We will have to see if it opens or not. I have a feeling that the pandemic will lead to some deflation in player prices, which is good for buyers but bad for sellers.
“We will have to see how all these factors are rebalanced. ”
