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Barca President insists no sale for Messi while Real Madrid deny irregularities with young players

Xinhua, January 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

FC Barcelona President, Josep Maria Bartomeu commented on Monday that his club had no intention of selling striker Leo Messi.

Messi' s future at the club has been put in doubt over rumors of poor relations between the striker and Barca coach, Luis Enrique and various 'enigmatic' comments Messi has made over recent weeks in which he has said you can never be 100 percent certain what the future may hold.

Speaking on Catalan radio station, RAC1, Bartomeu, who will stand for re-election as club president in the summer, insisted, "We have no intention of selling Leo."

"I can guarantee Messi' s continuity for this season and for the coming seasons," he added, while praising Luis Enrique.

"He is doing a good job and I am very happy, the team is improving all of the time," he said.

Barca have the current handicap of being unable to buy players this month or in the summer as the result of a FIFA ban imposed over irregularities regarding the signing of players for the club' s youth system.

"There are people responsible for that who are no longer at the club," said Bartomeu, who believes the rules over signing youngsters from foreign countries should be changed. "It is not possible that we can' t bring in players because their parents cannot travel with them," he said.

Barca' s bitter rivals Real Madrid are now facing a FIFA investigation over possible irregularities regarding 50 players in their youth system. The club has now issued a communique on its official website, attempting to explain away the issue.

Real Madrid allege that of the 50 possible cases regarding underage players, 10 were Spanish 6 were at a legal age, 2 were authorized, 2 were inscribed before the rules were changed, 23 come from other clubs in Spain, while two were never at the club.

The investigations into Real Madrid and other Spanish clubs will continue and if FIFA rejects their claims, the club could also find itself facing a transfer ban. Endi