Barcelona in crisis? Their Director of Football Andoni Zubizarreta was sacked on Monday while club's legend and former captain Carles Puyol, who was Zubizarreta's assistant, announced his immediate resignation. With rumors that their star player Lionel Messi may leave to join Chelsea, Barcelona's president Josep Maria Bartomeu has a lot on his plate right now.
Only a few years back Barca was on the other planet during the Guardiola era, when they could do no wrong; however, not a single trophy was won in 2014 and 2015 prospects look gloomy. Barca are second in La Liga, a point behind their arch-rivals Real Madrid; the big investments made in new players last summer did not pay off, and there are no prospects of new signing until 2016, due to a Fifa ban.
Bartolomeu categorically stated yesterday that Messi was happy to remain at Barcelona and would at least see out the rest of his contract until 2018. Messi leaving the club is probably his biggest concern at the moment, as far as supports are concerned. However, club president backed the new boss Luis Enrique, but nevertheless called for elections at the end of the season.
Some media reported that Messi's relationship with the new manager at Nou Camp was strained and the 27 year old Argentine was no longer on speaking terms with Enrique. Barca's all times top goalscorer was disappointed that he was left on the bench last weekend when Real Sociedad defeated Barcelona 1-0. This meant that they remained second in La Liga.
The relationship between the boss and the top player has soured further with some recent media claims that Messi may leave and move to the Premier League in particular to Chelsea. It has been reported that Messi was found looking at some Chelsea players Instagram pages!
Bartomeu has again rubbished these reports as invented to create conflicts that would further smear the image of the club.
Perhaps the best way to calm the situation would be for Barca to perform well in the months ahead when they have some challenging fixtures at Nou Camp and away.
