Why Lionel Messi Will Spend 4 More Seasons at Barcelona

Lionel Messi has rewritten the Barcelona record books ever since he first pulled on a pair of boots for his debut against Espanyol.

October 16, 2004, remains a date that will surely be etched in the memories of every Barca fan, but 11 years have already past since that fateful day.

It means that, unfortunately, there isn't too much time left to enjoy one of the game's greatest-ever players at the pinnacle of his powers.

All good things come to an end, and Messi, realistically, has another four seasons left after this one in Catalonia before one final campaign back in Argentina at Newell's Old Boys to finish his career. It's unlikely he will leave before that time.

Time and again, the 28-year-old has had to deny that he wants out, and again in January this year, Pete Jenson of the Daily Mail noted the player's words to reporters after the win against Atletico Madrid:

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I have not laid down any conditions for me to stay at this club and neither do I have any intention of leaving.

I have heard stories about my father already having spoken to Chelsea and Manchester City but it is not true.

"

Messi continues to happily repay the debt to the club that stuck their head above the parapet and paid for his growth hormone treatment.

Three of the four Champions League successes, the La Liga and Spanish cup triumphs—it's hard to argue against so many of these having been secured because of Messi.

And it's even harder to comprehend at this stage just how much further the diminutive No. 10 can push the envelope for the Blaugrana.

So much achieved already and yet so much more to be achieved. 

A constant desire to improve and to reinvent the wheel. False nine, winger, attacking midfielder, playmaker. Messi plays them all with equal aplomb.

His majesty still reigns supreme at present, and although the likelihood is that it will begin to diminish with age, the ability to evolve chameleon-like should ensure he still remains some way ahead of his contemporaries.

Cristiano Ronaldo might have something to say about that, but as Johan Cruyff explained to Mundo Deportivo (h/t ESPNFC) recently:

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Cristiano is a good player, but he is a goalscorer. He will never be a player who can make a team, or who is concerned that the team plays well, he is just worried about finishing.

By contrast, Messi is much more a team player: He gives passes, makes many more assists. As a player, not as a goalscorer, although he scores many goals.

For me there is a big difference between being a great player and a goalscorer. That is why you must look at things differently, looking at the details. Very few people do that. It is difficult to explain because nobody will understand it.

There is no debate, nobody is at Messi's level.

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From an individual point of view, there is every reason to expect that Messi will pick up an unprecedented fifth Ballon D'Or at the midway point of this season.

Although the player professes to not being too interested in individual accolades, per Mark Doyle of Goal, the same is a natural by-product of his continued excellence.

The highest levels of application that are seen time and again in almost every game he plays.

Blighted by injury this season, it will be the back end of November before Barca fans will see him in action again, but if there is a positive note to the same, it's that he will miss international duties for his country.

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There remains a theory that because they are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds per week, these players should somehow be able to withstand the constant rigours of elite combat. Forget it. It's moribund as an argument.

Perhaps it needs Messi to miss a few more call-ups in the build-up to the World Cup in 2018 in order to remain at peak fitness for Barcelona.

Sergio Aguero was recently sidelined for two months because of an injury picked up on international duty. Attributed to the top players doing too much?

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Too much travel and not enough rest does eventually take its toll. And the older he gets, the more susceptible Messi's body will be to the little niggles. Further and more intense, intelligent management of his physical well-being is therefore a must.

As long as he remains fit and healthy, then there is much that Messi can still contribute to the club of his life.

While it might be a little far-fetched to imagine the Catalans will continue to remain at the top of the European tree until his retirement from the Spanish top flight, another Champions League or two, authored by Messi yet again, isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

That's because unless the opposition put two, three or sometimes four players on him, there still doesn't appear to be a manager who can devise a way of stopping his influence on a particular game.

The Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein of the football world, Messi writes his own formula, and his contemporaries rarely crack the code.

Way back in 2011, just after Barca had defeated Manchester United in what Sir Alex Ferguson noted at the time as his most comprehensive beating as a manager, Tim Vickery of BBC Sport commented:

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It is too soon to know where he is going to end up in the pantheon, but Lionel Messi's performance on Saturday ensures beyond all doubt that he belongs among the all time greats.

Watching him scale the heights has given me particular pleasure because I had the good fortune to be there at the start of the journey, the moment when he first appeared before a mass public.

The event was the South American Under-20 Championships, staged in Colombia at the start of 2005. 

[...] He looked unimpressive as he took the field, small, pale and shambling. But as soon as he was on the ball all of us there knew we were witnessing something special.

He was only 17, a couple of years younger than almost everyone else, and he found the competition's gruelling calendar hard going.

But the talent was unmistakable. As Diego Maradona commented, Messi's close control is so abnormally good that he can run with the ball while watching TV - he has now reached a level where could probably change the channels as well.

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Nothing has changed in all that time. Nothing.

As the years go by and the ravages of time begin to catch up with him, Messi will need to tailor his own game accordingly.

For a player who is used to being the very best, playing second fiddle is unlikely to be good enough. 

Four more years is likely to give him enough time to set standards which will never be beaten and to allow him to go out at the top. 

Too often we have seen ego get in the way of common sense, but 33 will be the perfect age to exit stage left.

For Messi to ensure that his glory is never diminished.

More than that, it gives him enough time to help lay the foundations for another cycle of Barcelona dominance.

One final parting gift from the best Barca player to have ever played the game.