Barcelona presented its new home shirt for the 2021/22 season on Tuesday evening. Several players from the men’s and women’s team played a leading role around the presentation, as Gerard Piqué, Sergi Roberto, Pedri, Antoine Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong, Ansu Fati, Alèxia Putellas, Jennifer Hermoso and Aitana Bonmatí posed in the photos that were taken. released. The fact that Lionel Messi was not involved around the presentation of the new shirt has sparked speculation about the future of the Argentine attacker at Barcelona. Mundo Deportivo assures, however, that no alarm bells are going off in Catalonia yet.
Barcelona announced the new shirt through a campaign on social media, which will look striking. On three quarters of the shirt are the traditional blue-red stripes, but on the right chest there is a kind of red cross in a blue area. The bottom is half blue and half red. De Jong, Griezmann, Pedri and Piqué, among others, appeared in the photos and videos with which Barcelona announced the new shirt. It was not the shirt that sparked the most discussion for some fans, but it was the absence of Messi from the campaign.
After all, Messi is in possession of an expiring contract at Barcelona and it is still the question where his future lies, despite the fact that there have been more than once optimistic sounds about the star player’s stay on. For some, the lack of Messi in the presentation of the new shirt was proof that he will make a transfer next summer. Mundo Deportivo writes that the photos for the presentation of the new shirt were already taken on March 19.
In principle, the marketing department invited all players to this, so that there are enough photos at the time of the actual presentation. At the time of the presentation, the players are absent due to holidays or international obligations. Although Messi was called up for this photo shoot, he was not present. The reason for this was that Barcelona had not yet made him a contract offer at the time, making it unclear whether he would stay on. There was no need to take pictures in a shirt that it looked like he wasn’t going to wear at the time.
Mundo Deportivo emphasizes that the situation is different now than it was then. At Barcelona, it is expected that Messi will extend his contract for two years and then make the switch to American Major League Soccer. It is expected that Messi will have to settle for a lower salary to remain active at Barcelona. His name was also previously explicitly linked to a transfer-free move to Paris Saint-Germain.