BARCELONA boss Ernesto Valverde admitted Lionel Messi’s retirement is ‘in the air’.
The Argentine great collected a sixth Ballon d’OR on Monday but raised eyebrows in his celebratory speech.
Ernesto Valverde admitted Lionel Messi’s retirement is ‘in the air’Credit: Getty – Contributor
Messi, 32, said: “You enjoy these moments more because my retirement is getting nearer.”
His manager insisted it is only natural for a player nearing the end of their prime to speak in such a way, with only a handful of seasons at the top of his game remaining.
Valverde said: “It’s something natural, it seems normal, Leo is 32-years-old and although I don’t think he’s thinking about retiring now it’s something which is in the air.
“But I don’t think we should go crazy about it, we have to look at it naturally.
“Everyone thinks about retirement when they get to a certain age, but just because he’s thinking about it doesn’t mean he’s going to retire in the next three days.”
Barca’s No10 overtook his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo after clinching his sixth world’s best player award.
And Valverde claimed the true extent of Messi’s greatness will only be properly appreciated when he walks away from the game.
He explained: “I’m aware of how lucky I am but sometimes the demands of everyday life means you are not allowed to enjoy everything.
“I think you appreciate these things more with time. I’m aware that I have the enormous fortune of being able to say in a few years I coached Leo.
“In the same way that older people talk about Di Stefano, we will be able to tell future generations that we lived through the Messi era and some people like me will be able to say we enjoyed it close by.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
