Luka Modric believes that Lionel Messi’s departure will be a big loss for LaLiga and Barcelona. However, he believes, someday there will be other players who can replace the superstar.
“If Messi really leaves, LaLiga will lose its prestige,” Modric told AFP. “However, we have to move forward. Other players will replace him and become stars,” Modric added.
According to Modric, the situation Barcelona faced now is similar to that of Real Madrid when Cristiano Ronaldo left in 2018. After Ronaldo left, Real Madrid was indeed helpless. They ended the 2018-2019 season without a single trophy.
However, the following season, Los Blancos immediately won the 2019-2020 LaLiga title. They won the competition against Barcelona. “Messi’s departure would be a big loss, like when Cristiano (Ronaldo) left,” said Modric. “However, you cannot continue to be stuck in the past. This is football,” said the Croatian midfielder.
“When Ronaldo left, Real Madrid’s life continued without him. This also applies to Barcelona if Messi leaves later,” said Modric. As is known, Messi has expressed his desire to leave Barcelona this summer. Signs of Messi leaving were increasingly visible after the player did not attend Barcelona’s Covid-19 test last weekend. Moreover, the player who born in Rosario, Argentina, 33 years ago was also absent from Barca training.
In addition, the meeting between Messi’s father, Jorge, and Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu on Wednesday (9/2/2020), has yet to meet a common ground. Jorge is trying to find a way so that Messi can leave Camp Nou this summer. Meanwhile, the Barca camp asked Messi to stay until 2021 or until his contract expires.
They said that Messi could not decide unilaterally because he was still under contract until 2021. The clause, according to Barcelona, was no longer valid because Messi only announced that he wanted to leave in August 2020. Meanwhile, the deadline for the activation of the clause was due in June.
Simply put, Barcelona wants Messi to stay and if there are other clubs who want him, they must pay according to the release clause. It is likely that this contract issue will be solved at the court table.
