La Liga 2020-21: Barcelona out of title race following Celta loss, Koeman speaks on Messi's future

Lionel Messi is an Argentine superstar who is a legendary figure at Barcelona, having played at Camp Nou since his childhood. However, the Catalan’s wonderkid failed to inspire the side to victory against Celta de Vigo in the 2020-21 La Liga tie at home on Sunday.

Barca was reduced to ten men after Clement Lenglet was handed a red card in the 83rd minute, with the scores locked at 1-1. Meanwhile, the visitor scored the winner just six minutes later, while Messi was the lone scorer for his side, thus handing Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid the edge in the title race.

Consequently, rumours began to circulate in an escalated fashion, claiming that the Argentine might have played his final game at Camp Nou. Speaking on his future, club head coach Ronald Koeman did not sound really optimistic about the former’s chances of staying.

“I hope not because I think he’s shown his effectiveness and that he’s still the best in the world. It [would be] impossible to play without him. But, it’s Leo on his own and, to win more games and get more points, we need more players to score goals,” he told ESPN.

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“Leo’s scored 30 goals and won us a lot of points. But, [his future] is a question for him. For me and for the club, we hope he stays. Because if there’s no Leo, we have doubts about who will score the goals,” he added.

With just a game to go in the season, it would be interesting to see if Messi indeed renews his contract that comes to an end after next Sunday (May 23). While the negotiations are on, Barca is considering offering him a mega-contract that could keep him at the club for life.

Nevertheless, Messi is also likely to consider new options,  with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain reportedly in the fray. Also, Bayern Munich has emerged as the latest possible destination for the Argentine.

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