Lionel Messi Comments on Transfer Rumours, Relationship with Luis Enrique

Lionel Messi set the record straight regarding rumours that he wanted Barcelona manager Luis Enrique sacked or was on the verge of leaving the club altogether.     

Speaking with Barca TV (via Spanish football journalist Dermot Corrigan), Messi emphatically stated his desire to remain at the Camp Nou and for Enrique to stay on with the club:

The 27-year-old forward added that he is more than satisfied with his current situation, per Barcastuff:

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Messi: "I didn't put any conditions to stay, because I don't plan to leave. I'm happy here." #fcblive

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) January 11, 2015"

Earlier in the week, Jack Wilson of the Daily Star reported that Chelsea was weighing a £200 million transfer for Messi, which would've included a six-year contract with the club. Wilson then cited a report from Catalan television station TV3 that Barcelona would be prepared to fire Enrique in order to placate Messi.

Most viewed Messi going to Stamford Bridge as a pipe dream for the Blues, and Chelsea's assistant manager Steve Holland claimed that such a move is essentially unfeasible with UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations, per ESPN FC's Miguel Delaney.

Regarding the relationship between Messi and Enrique, though, The Guardian's Sid Lowe wrote on Jan. 7 that those issues appear to be very real:

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Reports then emerged that Messi had confronted Luis Enrique on Friday and again on Sunday, that the coach had wanted to take disciplinary action against him, and that they no longer talk. Messi was reported to have effectively issued Barcelona with an ultimatum of his own. The club's captains were trying to intervene to calm the tension between coach and star player. At last, on Wednesday, the club spoke. First, the coach. Luis Enrique repeatedly refused to 'confirm or deny' those reports although he did say at one point 'some of them not true', and he certainly did nothing to protect Messi from suggestions that he had argued with the coaching staff or had refused to train. Then, with his final remark, he hinted heavily that Messi had broken from collective principles that he considers fundamental. 'I do not talk about what happens in the dressing room or the training ground; what happens there, stays there,' he said.

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To say that Barcelona are in crisis would be a bit of an overstatement. However, the club is a point back of Real Madrid in the league, and Madrid have a game in hand.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport also upheld the transfer ban on Barcelona that runs through 2015. Shortly thereafter, Barca sacked director of football Andoni Zubizarreta, which led to the resignation of Zubizarreta's assistant, Carles Puyol.

It's all a bit reminiscent of the more turbulent times the club experienced in the early 2000s before Frank Rijkaard righted the ship, followed by Pep Guardiola's wildly successful reign.

Messi's comments, though, in addition to Sunday's 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid will help to bring some calm to the club.