The potential next president of Barcelona said that Lionel Messi must end his career in Catalonia and then stay on to play a key role at the club after retiring.
Victor Font, a telecommunications entrepreneur, has also earmarked another Barca great in Xavi to lead the team as a general manager in the long term as well as being coach.
Messi, a six-time Ballon d'Or winner and Barca's all-time top scorer, came close to leaving the Catalans in August after his relationship with then president Josep Maria Bartomeu was fractured beyond repair.
But the Argentine can leave the club, where he has spent his entire career, for free at the end of this season unless he signs a new contract before the end of June.
Font, who formed part of a campaign against Bartomeu which led to him resigning in October, is the front-runner to win the January 24 election and believes the world's best paid player can be convinced to stay at Camp Nou.
"When you are lucky enough to have the best player in the world in your team, you need to retain that talent," Font, 48, told Reuters on Tuesday.
"If Messi goes to a competitor we will not find an alternative easily as there is no alternative to Messi. So that’s why retaining him in the short term is critical.
"But for us the association between Messi and Barca is a strategic relationship and we want to make sure we create the right conditions for Messi to play a role in the club even after he retires. Messi could contribute plenty of ideas."
Font's view on the importance of Messi remaining at the club is in stark contrast to that of La Liga chief Javier Tebas.
The outspoken league chief says the Spanish top flight coped without a hiccup when Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar left, and he doesn’t believe a possible Messi departure would have any more of an impact.
"We would prefer Messi to stay in La Liga but Ronaldo and Neymar left and we have not noticed any difference," Tebas said. "We are ready."
Font has been planning a run at the Barcelona presidency for seven years and sees former midfield maestro Xavi as fundamental to his plans – and persuading Messi to stay on.
Xavi, currently managing Qatari club Al Sadd, formed a formidable partnership alongside the likes of Messi and Andres Iniesta before leaving Barca in 2015. The Spaniard's intricate passing helped supply the Argentine's relentless goal hauls for 11 years, was a fulcrum to Barca winning seven La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues.
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Messi's 10 best goals for Barca
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"Messi needs to be convinced we have a competitive and winning project and Xavi can play a decisive role in us doing that," Font said.
"Xavi’s credibility and know how about football is the right one to convince someone like Messi. They are friends, they know each other, they trust each other and that’s going to be key."
If he wins the election, Font will take charge of a club with the highest wage bill in world football. However, the club is in deep financial crisis, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which has obliterated revenue from ticketing, merchandising and tourism.
Barca's last accounts showed a loss of €97 million ($115m), while their overall net debt more than doubled to €488m. But Font believes Messi’s love for Barcelona, who he joined aged 13, is so deep that he could lower his salary demands in order to stay.
"All clubs are in economic crisis [due to the pandemic] and everyone needs to adjust their expectations," he said.
"The good thing with Messi is he loves the club as we all do and I'm sure he is ready to take a long term perspective and make a contribution so the club can manage the short term in the best possible way.
"When you have someone like Messi who loves the club and who the club wants to retain for many years, you have the framework to regenerate and build a winning team."
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55 Lionel Messi records
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
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1,942 teams
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2 Kuwaiti teams
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A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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more from Janine di Giovanni
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
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Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MATCH INFO
Iceland 0 England 1 (Sterling pen 90 1)
Man of the match Kari Arnason (Iceland)
Brief scores:
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Toss: South Africa, field first
Pakistan (1st innings) 177: Sarfraz 56, Masood 44; Olivier 4-48
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The%20Genius%20of%20Their%20Age
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20S%20Frederick%20Starr%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Oxford%20University%20Press%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20290%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20January%2024%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
