Rivaldo: Messi Stays At FC Barcelona Until ‘37 Or 38’

Club legend Rivaldo sees Lionel Messi in action at FC Barcelona until he is ‘37 or 38’ years old.

Speaking in his role as a betfair ambassador, the iconic Brazilian said, “Messi has his life in Barcelona, and he enjoys his family [life] there a lot. There will always be reasons for him to stay at the Camp Nou.”

“Messi could still extend his contract this season. Who knows if Messi has changed his stance to leave the club?” the World Cup winner asked rhetorically.

“Perhaps with a new president who understands his needs, he could offer him a good project for the future and he could consider staying a few more seasons. He loves the club and I can imagine him playing until he is 37 or 38 years old,” Rivaldo stated.

With Josep Bartomeu set to step down next year and unable to rerun, the outgoing president will have his successor decided with an election around March 20 or March 21.

A close ally of Messi’s former tiki-taka teammate, who Rivaldo once played alongside when the Catalan had progressed from La Masia, Victor Font is among the frontrunners and is likely to oust new head coach Ronald Koeman in favor of Xavi Hernandez when taking over the reins.

In the here and now, Luis Suarez has been giving his marching orders by Koeman and could join Juventus before the weekend, yet the Rivaldo is not impressed by his potential replacement Memphis Depay.

“Barcelona need to sign a forward and Depay should not be the last signing since he is not a striker,” Rivaldo stated.

 Still in this area of the pitch, Rivaldo gave his opinion on 17-year-old wonderkid Ansu Fati, who according to reports Barcelona have already turned down a 150mn bid for.

“He will be an important player but he cannot be given a lot of responsibility yet,” Rivaldo insisted. Given there are growing calls for the prodigy to have a fixed place in the Blaugrana starting XI however, while having been made a full Spain international and La Roja’s youngest ever scorer against Ukraine at the weekend, that ship may have already sailed.