Inter And City Please Be Patient, Messi Will Stay At The Camp Nou At Least Until 2021

Lionel Messi (Instagram @lionelmessi)

JAKARTA - Argentine superstar Lionel Messi will still be in Barcelona's uniform until at least 2021. This coincides with the release clause in his contract expiring.

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi has the terms of his current contract, which last until the end of next season. This means that this will allow La Pulga to leave Barca for free at the end of the 2019-20 season.

However, according to reports widely circulated in Spain, the Argentina international has yet to take up the option, which will need to be activated at the weekend to take effect again.

Barca captain Messi will now play his 17th season at Camp Nou.

Speculation about the end of Messi's career with Los Blaugrana first evaporated in February amid a dispute with sporting director Eric Abidal. At that time, Abidal said the lack of team hard work was part of the reason for the management to fire coach Ernesto Valverde.

In March, the 32-year-old revealed that his wages at Barca would be cut by 70 per cent during the COVID-19 morning to criticize those within the club.

The Greatest Of All Time. 🐐 # Messi @FCBarcelona #OnThisDay #StayHome pic.twitter.com/9aOy4XboBN

- LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) April 18, 2020

"(This is for those) who want to put us at the center of the attention of the public and the media or try to pressure us into something that we obviously always want to do," Messi said, reported Football Espana.

Manchester City and Inter are reportedly monitoring Messi's situation at Camp Nou, although in April he suggested that rumors of a move to a Serie A club were fake news.

Messi is Barca's all-time leading scorer and president Josep Maria Bartomeu is looking to tie him up with another contract.

The slick attacker hopes to win his 35th La Liga title with the Catalan giants when competitions resume on June 11.

Currently Barca are two points ahead of Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga standings with 11 games remaining. Meanwhile, the Champions League last-16 second leg against Napoli is likely to take place in August.