Messi could leave Barca next summer on a free transfer – Gibson

Terry Gibson insists he can see a scenario where Lionel Messi leaves Barcelona on a free transfer next summer.

In July, Messi agreed terms on a new contract that would keep him at the Nou Camp until 2021 but the Argentina international is yet to put pen-to-paper on the deal.


And Gibson, speaking on a Sky Sports podcast, is starting to think Messi could quit the Nou Camp next summer with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain now able to afford the 30-year-old.

“I always thought Lionel Messi, like Andres Iniesta and Xavi, would spend the bulk of the serious part of his career at Barcelona,” Gibson said.

“For years I found it hard to envisage how anyone could afford to take Messi away from Barcelona, but now we’ve seen the emergence of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

“Now I’m looking at the fact he’s got only a year left on his contract. I think the new contract offer is worth €24m-a-year but if he was available on a free transfer Barca’s offer would get dwarfed. If a PSG or a Manchester City can get an out-of-contract Messi we’re talking, with the price of players now, €100m, €150m, €200m.

“I know he’s 30 now but in terms of prestige and what a signing like that can bring to the club would be a real coup. It’s not just the marketing, it is 50 games and 50 goals a season in whatever league he goes and plays in. I didn’t think it would happen, but I actually think it might now.”

Sky Sports’ Rob Palmer joined Jon Driscoll and Gibson on the podcast and he thinks Messi will eventually sign a new deal and stay at the Nou Camp.

“Footballers can have all the money in the world and it’s just a figure on a bank balance,” he said.

“The questions I would ask are: ‘Where do you want to live? Where do you want to play your football?’ The money is just a figure, it is money you will never be able to spend. You are going to have the best house you want and you are going to put your children in the school you want them to go to.

“There’s a question of do you want to live in Paris and learn a whole new language or do you want to live in Manchester, sign for City and have a new challenge in your life? Or are you happy and content with life at Barcelona?

“I think that when he sits down and thinks about having to move everything, I think he’ll stay.”