Barcelona manager admits being worried about Messi situation

FC Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has broken his silence regarding the club's current financial crisis and Lionel Messi's contract extension. In direct contrast to club president Joan Laporta, Koeman has admitted that he is concerned about the situation.

Messi is still currently a free agent after the club failed to come to an agreement with him before his contract expired back on June 30. The club has been unable to offload enough players to successfully register their new signings, let alone confirm a new agreement with Messi.

"Whenever an issue is not solved, you have to be worried," Koeman said, shortly after Laporta himself told media that "everything is going well" in relation to Messi's contract. The pair faced the press together earlier this week when they attended a charity golf tournament organised by Koeman himself.

According to Marca, the coach went on to say that he is putting his trust in the president. "I have complete confidence in our president [Joan Laporta] to fix this issue, and I hope [it will] because it is very important for the club but also for LaLiga that the best player in the world stays and we all have to make an effort for him to stay with us."

Meanwhile, LaLiga president Javier Tebas has a different opinion. He believes that La Liga can survive without Messi, as proven by the previous departures of other stars such as Neymar Jr. and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Koeman revealed that Laporta has asked him to remain calm about the situation, and that they are still confident that an agreement will be reached with Messi.

The Argentine is currently in Brazil representing his national team side. They will be facing Brazil in the Copa America final on Sunday, and it is expected that he will return to Barcelona to get his future sorted once the tournament concludes.

Messi has other priorities at the moment, but Barcelona is quickly running out of time. They need to find buyers for big names like Antoine Griezmann, Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite and Philippe Coutinho among others, if they want to have any hope of re-signing Messi.

Apart from Messi, Barcelona is currently unable to register their summer signings, namely Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Memphis Depay and Emerson Royal.