Reports | Lionel Messi to stay at Barcelona after Josep Maria Bartomeu’s resignation

Despite revealing that he had no plans to resign, Josep Maria Bartomeu did exactly that and stepped away from his post as president of Barcelona. The move has come as a shock to many despite a petition circulating to get the club president removed from his post. ESPN, and various other sources, have revealed that Bartomeu resigned because he was about to face a vote of no confidence after the petition garnered the signatures they needed.

However, the Times has reported that Bartomeu’s move could see Lionel Messi stay at the club with the Argentine unhappy at the way the outgoing president ran things. So much so, that reports indicated it was a large part of why the 33-year-old submitted a transfer request. His explosive interview with Goal was the catalyst for the petition to oust Bartomeu from his position with more than 20,000 signatures collected, which is well above the required 16,000.

The report further adds that with new elections set to be held within the next few weeks, Messi is looking more and more likely that he wants to stay and finish out his career at the Camp Nou. But rumours have also revealed that Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola, are looking into a potential way to sign the Argentine for free in January with him in the final year of his contract.