Barcelona Transfer News: Lionel Messi Exit Reports Played Down by Dad Jorge

Lionel Messi's comments regarding a potential Barcelona departure sparked headlines across the globe on Tuesday, but both his father Jorge and Argentina manager Gerardo Martino believe the reports are being pulled out of context and exaggerated.

Speaking to La Vanguardia (h/t AS), Jorge Messi made it clear the plan is for his son to remain with the Catalans:

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As of today there is nothing. The thoughts are to stay here, but people have read between the lines and things are exaggerated. Leo is happy. But it is clear that if the club tells you tomorrow 'we have this offer, we want to sell you', then you have to study it. Although today there is no thought about that.

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The four-time Ballon d'Or winner gave an interview with Argentinian newspaper Ole (h/t ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan) in which he stated he was focused on the present and couldn't predict the future. That message was then quickly interpreted as a sign the star forward could be leaving the club:

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At the moment, I am living in the present. I am thinking about having a great year and winning the trophies we want at Barcelona -- nothing else.

Later, we will see. In football, things change all the time. Although I have always said I would like to stay there forever, sometimes everything does not always go as you want.

I have said it many times. If it were for me, I would stay forever. But as I said before, everything does not always come out as you want -- even more in football, which changes so much and in which so many things can happen. It is complicated, even more given what is happening today at Barcelona.

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Rumours of an imminent exit quickly spiralled out of control, prompting Argentina manager and former Barcelona coach Martino to chime in on the matter. As reported by Marca (h/t Corrigan), he said:

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This is a very personal opinion. When you see the connection he has with Barcelona, thinking about it from outside and without having spoken about it with him, [Messi leaving] seems difficult to me. When you see the options there are in the world, big teams where he could fit in perfectly, I think it is possible. What is definite is that I believe he should be where he is happy to play football.

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The concept of one-club men has become somewhat of a rarity in modern football, particularly with the lucrative deals on offer for the top players around the continent.

But with Messi, a transfer away from the Catalan capital has never seemed like a realistic option. The 27-year-old received much of his training at La Masia, Barcelona's famed youth academy, before building a legendary career in the iconic Blaugrana shirt.

Barcelona have built a system tailor-made for his specific skill set, and while it's unfair to hold Argentina's failures at the highest level against him, Messi's top moments have always taken place at the club level.

Messi and the Barcelona board have clashed on multiple occasions, to the point where ESPN FC's Corrigan felt compelled to joke about it:

He's the face of the club, grew into the player he is today inside the walls of La Masia and is idolised by its fans. There's no denying he has the talent to be a superstar for any club in the world, but in many ways, Barcelona will always be home.

Likewise, the club simply couldn't entertain the idea of selling their biggest star. The fans would riot, to say the least, while several heads would likely roll inside the board and coaching staff the moment the squad lost two matches in a row.

Anything is possible in football, but after the career Messi has already had with the Blaugrana, he deserves to depart the club via the front door, with a standing ovation from everyone involved and whenever the time is right.

Barcelona can't just sell one of the two best players in the world unless he explicitly asks for a transfer, and if he's unhappy, the club has to do everything in its power to change that. Jorge Messi made it very clear: His son has no intention of leaving. The faster these two sides can now come together again, the better.

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