After asking the president of FC Barcelona if the newly-renovated Camp Nou will have a Lionel Messi statue, the answer that comes back encapsulates the mood around the club after the midweek win over Liverpool.
‘No, it will have 10!’ says Josep Bartomeu laughing. ‘We’ve got one of Ladislao Kubala. We’re working on one of Johan Cruyff. And the day that Messi retires — well, I won’t be president because he’ll outlast me. He has so much football still to give.’
No one at the club wants to contemplate Messi’s retirement and even more so as Barca’s president sits down with The Mail on Sunday 24 hours after the Argentine’s dismantling of Liverpool.
Lionel Messi is mobbed by his team-mates after a stunning individual display against Liverpool
Josep Bartomeu believes the talisman who destroyed the Reds has more to give for the club
‘I still think it’s a long way off,’ says Bartomeu. ‘He’s only 31. Look at the power in that free kick. He’s a long way out and that ball really flies. He’s stronger than ever.’
Barcelona are due to begin rebuilding the Camp Nou in the summer of 2020.
‘That will be flattened,’ says Bartomeu as he looks out of his office window at the club’s Mini Estadi across the road.
It has hosted Barcelona B-team matches since 1982. It will be replaced by a new arena for the club’s basketball, handball, roller hockey and indoor football teams. In total, the renovation work could end up totalling £510million.
Everything should be finished by 2023. That sounds like the perfect distraction for fans trying not to think about Messi’s retirement – he’ll be 35.
‘Well that’s you saying that, not me,’ says Bartomeu still beaming. ‘I hope Leo plays on until he’s 45! I don’t know what he wants to do but it would be fantastic to have him in the team when we inaugurate the new stadium.’
(L-R) Naby Keita, Fabinho, James Milner and Virgil van Dijk try to shackle the Argentina star
Messi waves to the Nou Camp crowd after scoring his second goal against the Reds
He knows he’s hit the jackpot presiding over the club in the era of its greatest ever player.
‘Presidents from other teams, when they come to the Camp Nou the first thing they say is: “Is Messi going to play today?” They support their teams but they love football and want to see him,’ he says.
There will have been disappointment in the Celta Vigo directors’ box on Saturday night with Messi rested ahead of Tuesday’s second leg at Anfield.
His two goals against Liverpool leave him 90 minutes from his fourth Champions League final in 10 years. He has lit up the competition that most in football agree is the greatest in the game.
Bartomeu says he’s a Champions League fan. ‘It’s “la leche!”,’ he says, using that strange Spanish idiom that translates literally as ‘It’s the milk!’ but means something like ‘It’s the business!’
But he sits on the executive board of the European Clubs Association, playing a part in talks to shape the next wave of changes that will take effect in 2024. So why change the Champions League when it is such a spectacular success?
Messi has led Barcelona to La Liga title and they look set to reach the Champions League final
‘Because we are going to change it for the better,’ comes the reply. ‘Nothing is perfect. The process of improving something never stops.’
Will this mean a closed European Super League with permanent members there on historical name, not merit, and matches played at weekends? Bartomeu allays some of those fears, others less so.
‘Barcelona
