Luis Suarez Comments on Lionel Messi's Contract, Gerard Pique, Barcelona, More
Luis Suarez has called on the Barcelona hierarchy to end Lionel Messi's contract saga, rejecting chief executive Oscar Grau's talk of "common sense" in negotiations, as per Angels Fabregues of Sport.
The Uruguayan spoke about his team-mate's contract situation after scoring his 100th Barcelona goal in the 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
"What you have to do with Messi is renew his contract, not have common sense," he said.
The comment refers to Grau's assertion that Barcelona must be cautious when negotiating the terms of a new deal in order to comply with La Liga's expenditure caps.
"Barcelona has to analyse this situation with a cold head and common sense," Grau said, as per Reuters (via the Guardian). "Barca can’t exceed 70 per cent of its budget on wages, and therefore, we have to make the numbers add up."
He went on to say that "the club wants the best player in the world to stay at Barca. I would like to ease the concerns of club members and supporters but we have to use common sense."
Suarez's outspoken comments are likely to echo those of the fans, but the negotiation process has proved to be fraught with difficulties.
Messi earns £19 million a year after tax, according to Reuters, and his deal is set to expire in 18 months. Suarez, meanwhile, recently put pen to paper for a deal until 2021.
The stand-off does not appear to be unsettling the Argentinian, despite Barca's own troubles domestically. Messi has scored 26 goals in 22 games in all competitions this season, netting in each of his last six, per WhoScored.com.
However, a string of draws in December—followed by the 1-1 stalemate with Villarreal on Sunday—has left Barcelona in third and five points behind leaders Real Madrid. This is in spite of the continuing lethal form of that famous front three, as Squawka highlighted on Twitter:
Suarez also spoke about Gerard Pique and his ongoing feud with referees. The La Liga referee committee has filed a complaint regarding the Spaniard's conduct, as per Ivan San Antonio and Jordi Gil of Sport (h/t AS), following his outbursts during the Athletic match and after the Villarreal game.
On referees, Suarez said, as per Fabregues: "They’re always talked about for good or for bad. But what we have to do is to keep working hard to achieve our objectives. [Pique] said what he thinks. Others think the same but don’t say it. We are with him, even though sometimes you have to be careful [what you say]."
Despite these two negatives, Suarez was largely in a positive mood, and he is hopeful the team have turned a corner.
"We’re happy with the work we put in on a general level,” he said, per Fabregues. "It was the lift we needed, but we were calm because we knew that we were working well."
His and Barcelona's thoughts now turn to the upcoming league match against Las Palmas at the Camp Nou on Saturday. They cannot afford to drop many more points if they are to retain the title this season, and so Messi's contract saga—as well as Pique's outspoken nature—will need to be put to one side.
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