The Spanish media call it “bizzare” when Barcelona President traveled to Lionel Messi’s father’s flat, but refused to enter in another twist in the future of Lionel Messi.
But the Daily Mail report that the Lionel Messi-Barcelona saga took another farcical turn when Spanish media filmed Josep Bartomeu’s car circling Jorge Messi’s flat in the city.
Bartomeu was not in the car, leading to speculation on Twitter that he a) was in the boot, b) had tried to fool media with a decoy or c) had been left behind by mistake by an absent-minded chauffeur.
The duo were set for showdown talks on Wednesday afternoon to clarify the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s future.
The Argentine superstar sent shockwaves throughout football after informing Barcelona recently, via fax, that he wanted to leave the club on a free transfer.
However, the transfer saga took another twist after Bartomeu’s car – without the Barca chief inside – rocked up at the flat on Wednesday before turning around and driving off again.
Messi’s father arrived in the Catalan city on Wednesday morning to negotiate his son’s exit with the first face-to-face talks with Bartomeu since the Argentine sent a burofax informing the club he wants to move on – with Manchester City his expected landing spot.
Bartomeu was reportedly only planning to use the meeting as a way to convince Messi to remain at the club.
The beleaguered president has a better relationship with Jorge than he does with Messi and is hopeful that could work to the club’s advantage.
But Messi’s father – before talks were set to get underway – confessed it is ‘difficult’ to see his son staying in Barcelona this summer.