Barcelona wants to present Lionel Messi against Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus

After months of negotiation, FC Barcelona is very close to announcing the renewal of Lionel Messi. The recent champion of the Copa América has been a free agent since June 30, but his situation is about to change between Thursday and Friday, a period that the Catalan club has set to formalize the continuity of Rosario's genius.

And not only that. According to the newspaper ‘Sport’, President Joan Laporta and his directors hope that the ‘10 ′ will be present on Sunday at the game for the Joan Gamper Trophy. The meeting in honor of the founder of Barcelona will have as the other protagonist none other than Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus.

Against the Italians, at the Johan Cruyff stadium, the Catalan club wants Messi, like the captain that he is, to deliver the traditional season-opening speech. The clash against the Italians will be Barcelona's last game before starting LaLiga 2021-22 on August 14 against Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou, a stadium that expects to have approximately 20,000 fans. It will be the first time that the Barça venue has received an audience since the start of the pandemic.

The president of Barcelona announced already last Monday that talks with Messi about a new contract are progressing well. According to press reports, the club offered him a five-year contract with a reduced salary, which it hopes will help him meet LaLiga's financial fair play (FFP) requirements. "We are doing everything we can and are progressing well," Laporta said at a news conference on Monday. “It goes along the lines that we all believed, within the scope that we have. We are still in talks ”.