Messi ‘90 per cent’ certain to stay at Barca

A FOOTBALL agent who helped take Lionel Messi to Barcelona claims it is ‘90 per cent’ sure the player will stay at the Nou Camp.

Josep Maria Minguella has his own stake in the Catalan club’s history as well as Messi, he also claims a hand in taking legendary figures Diego Maradona, Hristo Stoichkov and Romario there.

But he is best known for urging Barca football director Carles Rexach to snap up the 13-year-old Messi after a trial - which led to the famous scrawling of an agreement with his father Jorge Messi on a napkin during lunch at a tennis club in the Catalan city.

Minguella maintains a keen interest in the affairs of Barca and he claims Messi’s camp made a serious miscalculation when they notified the club he wanted to leave. “They’ve jumped into the swimming pool,” said Minguella. “Someone suggested to them that the delay in the season would mean the dates would change.

“I understand that the contract remains totally in effect, that there hasn’t been any change in the dates.

“With the passing of time, there is contact between the two legal teams. Right now, Messi’s legal team don’t see the situation clearly.”

Minguella warned that any club getting tangled up in the matter runs the risk of being forced to pay the release fee of £630m.

“The interpretation of the clause stops any institution coming in to buy a player saying he is free,” he said. “One day, there is the legal threat that they have to pay anything from one euro to 700m.

“There is a 90 per cent chance that Messi will continue at Barca.”