Messi Will Leave If He Doesn't Accept Pay Cut, Says Barcelona Presidential Candidate

FC Barcelona's presidential candidate Emili Rousaud has said Lionel Messi will have to leave FC Barcelona if he doesn't accept a pay cut.

Messi's future at Barcelona remained uncertain after he had put in a transfer request at the end of a chaotic 2019-20 campaign. The Argentinean, who was linked with a move to Premier League's Manchester City, instead chose to continue with the Catalans. Since then, Messi has also been linked with other clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Inter Milan of Serie A.

After Josep Maria Bartomeu's resignation in October, the presidential elections at Barcelona are set to take place in January and Rousaud is one of the candidates. In a recent interview, Rousoud discussed Messi's future at Camp Nou amid the coronavirus pandemic. The 33-year-old's current contract with the Catalans is due to expire at the end of the 2020-21 season.

"We'll have to sit down with Messi and ask him to take a salary cut. Right now, with things as they are, it's unsustainable. We'll ask him to make the sacrifice. If there's no agreement, then Messi will leave. Messi has written the most brilliant pages in the club's history. We have to honor our legends, but the reality is what it is. I believe that things have to be said as they are. We can't fool our members. We'll make every effort to ensure he stays, but always with the interests of the club first," Rousaud said in the interview, Goal reported.

After suffering two back-to-back losses, Barcelona returned to winning ways Sunday with a 1-0 victory over Levante in the 2020-21 La Liga. The goal was scored by Messi, who took his tally to eight goals in the ongoing campaign. The two successive losses came against Cadiz before Barcelona lost 3-0 to Juventus at home in the Champions League.

Messi's 76th-minute winner at Camp Nou took Barcelona to just nine points behind league leaders Real Sociedad, but with two games in hand. Interestingly, these two teams will face off in their next league fixture Wednesday.