BARCELONA, Aug 19: Barcelona is on the verge of announcing a new coach, and it may have a new president next year.
The club is also promising �wide-ranging� and �profound� structural changes after one of its most humiliating defeats ever � the 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Friday.
The one big question that remains is whether it will be able to keep Lionel Messi.
The team�s biggest star for more than a decade has a contract with Barcelona until 2021, but he hasn�t been hiding his dissatisfaction with the club.
�I haven�t spoken with Messi but I talked to his father,� Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu told Barca TV on Tuesday.
�Messi is disappointed and frustrated, just like everyone else. It was painful but we have to pick ourselves up. It�s what we all have to do.�
Messi has been more outspoken than ever this season, talking about the team�s problems and pointing to poor decisions by club directors. Although he has never really hinted about leaving, his recent actions have raised doubts about his future.
�Football is a game that comes and goes very quickly in your life, so this next two years, where he�s still going to have the power to influence games the way he does, is he going to want to be doing that not really competing for the big titles? I don�t know,� former player Rio Ferdinand said.
Spanish media has reported that negotiations to extend Messi�s contract beyond next June have been on hold since the problems at the club escalated. One Brazilian outlet, Esporte Interativo, said Messi actually wants to leave now instead of waiting until next year. � AP
