Spanish national sport daily Marca have revealed that Lionel Messi is reluctant to sign a new contract with Barcelona, with the legal complaint about his alleged tax fraud to be heard between January and June next year.
The newspaper has stated that only Messi knows whether he will renew his deal in January or if he will wait until it runs out in 2018 before coming to a decision on his future.
This summer the 29-year-old apparently refused to renew his contract, preferring to wait until the end of the year and a half left on his deal before deciding on his future.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu was said to have been shocked with the decision, with Messi even having briefly considered the possibility of not finishing out his deal, before Bartomeu called for calm.
The decision came during a tempestuous period in Messi’s life as on July 6, the Spanish courts condemned him and his father Jorge to 21 months in prison for three separate instances of fraud, amounting to £3.5million (€4.1m), in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
The two Messis were also fined for failing to declare taxes for £8.7m (€10.1m) in earnings from the player’s image rights, and the player was condemned to 21 months in prison.
Messi was forced to pay a £1.7m (€2m) fine for failing to declare the aforementioned amount in taxes. Meanwhile, his father faced the same prison sentence and was hit with a £1.29m (€1.5m) fine.
Eleven days before being found guilty, on June 26, Messi faced another setback, in missing a decisive penalty in the shootout before losing to Chile in the Copa America Centenario final.
Bartomeu will be desperate to avoid becoming the president that let Messi walk away, with the Blaugrana set to offer him a long contract so that he will retire at the Nou Camp and then continue to tie him to the club with a post-playing career role.
It is believed that a simple pay raise for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner – to £41.4m (€48m) [£18m (€21m) + add ons] – will not suffice, with Messi keen to return to childhood club Newell’s Old Boys.
Source: Dailymail
