How Barcelona is preparing for life after Lionel Messi

Barcelona's transfer policy is focused on planning for life after Lionel Messi – but club president Josep Maria Bartomeu insists that the Argentine legend is retiring "in a while".

Messi, 31, is the talisman of Barcelona, ​​scoring 581 goals for the Spanish giants, winning 10 Liga titles and four leagues of champions in a successful career at Camp Nou.

The Argentine striker has remained in the group, although he has already been linked to Chelsea and Manchester City, and he seems more and more likely to stay at Barca until the end of his professional career.

Since the sale of Neymar to PSG in the summer of 2017, Barca has loved players aged 25 and under, such as Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho, Arthur, Malcom and Clement Lenglet, alongside the star of the middle Ajax field, Frenkie De Jong A £ 67 million contract to join the Blaugrana this summer.

While Barca is leading the La Liga and has qualified for the last 16 in the Champions League with a semifinal of Copa del Rey, men of Ernesto Valverde rely more and more on Messi to turn the tide, especially the Copa return match, with Messi resting in the first leg defeats.

Although Messi is showing no sign of abating at the moment, Barca's president, Bartomeu, said the club's transfer activity in the last windows shows that there is a long-term strategy that includes living without his star man.

"I know that one day, Lionel will say that he is retiring," Bartomeu told BBC Television Channel 5, broadcast daily on Podcast, the daily Football Football Podcast.

"We need to prepare the club for the future.We bring excellent young players to the team because we have to continue this era of success.It is our responsibility.

"My term will be completed in two seasons, so I have to leave the club in an excellent position and tell the new president" it's our legacy "."