Friday 21 November 2014 16:01, UK
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has insisted Lionel Messi is happy at the club and blamed outsiders for suggesting he is seeking a move.
Messi this week told Ole he wanted to finish his career with Barca, but added "sometimes everything does not always go as you want", a remark which sparked plenty of speculation when combined with a comment from his father Jorge, who said a move would be considered if Barca ever wanted to sell.
However, Bartomeu claimed such speculation was being drummed up by Barca's opponents, and there was nothing to Messi's remark.
"Leo is under a lot of pressure off the field," Bartomeu told 8TV. "I have spoken with his father, Jorge, two days ago and my impression is that nothing has changed, he is happy at Barca, and his comments say that clearly - he wants to win everything.
"He has not asked us for a new contract. No, no. He is happy. From inside the club we will always help the player. [Former Barca coach Pep] Guardiola already said it a few years ago, Leo must be happy at Barca."
Messi and his father face a trial over alleged tax fraud, while others have claimed the four-time Ballon d'Or winner feels unappreciated by his club when compared with Real Madrid's support of Cristiano Ronaldo's candidacy for the top awards in football.
But Bartomeu claimed there was an anti-Barca agenda in sections of the media, seeking to unsettle Messi.
"Another thing is that he is sensitive about things from outside," Bartomeu said. "There is more talk about his vomiting on the pitch, for example, than on [Telmo] Zarra's record. And although other players have other situations, there is only talk about Leo and the taxman. They want to beat him off the pitch. On the pitch he is number one."
Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed reports in a book published earlier this month, that he tried to sign Messi as a teenager from Barcelona.
Wenger wanted to bring the Argentina striker and Spain central defender Gerard Pique to the club from the Barca Academy at the same time as Cesc Fabregas.
In the end, only Fabregas moved, and a recent biography suggests the potential deal for Messi broke down because Arsenal were unable to purchase accommodation for his family, who were keen to join him in London, although the South American would still have needed to secure a work permit.
Despite all of their efforts, Arsenal boss Wenger - who also scouted the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Didier Drogba when they were raw talents - believes the player just felt settled in Spain and was not prepared to take a chance on moving to England.
"I think in the end, he was not so keen to move. It was at a period where Fabregas came, and Fabregas and Messi played together in the same team at Barcelona Academy,” Wenger said.
“We wanted to take Fabregas, Messi and Pique. It worked only for Fabregas.
"It was not completely down to a flat in the end. It was down to the fact that, in the end, Messi was comfortable at Barcelona."
