Messi set to dump Barcelona

There is panic at the Camp Nou ahead of the 2018 when Lionel Messi’s contract will expire.

The club’s inability to offer the 5-time world footballer of the year an improved contract could see the player leave the club.

The Argentine is expected to command a new deal at £21m a year, same amount being earned by Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Chief executive of the club Oscar Grau disclosed that Barca must exercise common sense in the area of revenue sourcing from sponsorship deals and player sales.

“We want the best players but perhaps we have to prioritise,”he added.

There are budgetary limits in Spain for each club at the start of every season and teams are not allowed to spend more than 70% of their budget on wages.

According to Grau, the 29-year-old Messi currently earns about £19m but admitted that the amount needs to be ‘increased sensibly’

“We have to make the numbers add up,”he added.

“One option is to increase our revenues, as our economic strategy forecasts.

“The club wants the best player in the world to stay at Barca. I would like to ease the concerns of club members and supporters but we have to use common sense.”

There are speculations that the player may not extend his contract at the club following alleged tax fraud he was involved in 2016.

Recall that the Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and his father Jorge were sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax fraud; but as the sentence was short of two years, and neither Lionel nor Jorge had a criminal record, they were not required to serve any jail term.