Messi in disagreement with Barca’s Coutinho transfer preference

Lionel Messi would rather prefer Barcelona to sell Ousmane Dembele and keep hold of Philippe Coutinho.

Coutinho looks certain to leave the Nou Camp in the summer after failing to impress following his £142million move from Liverpool.

The 27-year-old’s career has stagnated in recent months, and he needs to move if he wants to rediscover his form from 2018.

A host of Premier League clubs are lining up to sign the Brazilian, with Chelsea, Everton, Leicester City, and Newcastle all believed to be in the running.

But not everyone at Barcelona believes selling Coutinho would be best for the club.

According to The Athletic, Messi and other senior players at Barcelona would rather the club sell Dembele and retain the services of Coutinho.

The report adds that players are aware that someone will need to be sold if the club have any chance of finding the money to re-sign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi recent announced that he and his Barcelona team-mates would be taking a 70 per cent pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the Barcelona captain said: “Before going any further, we want to make it clear that we were always willing to reduce our salaries because we understand perfectly that we are in an exceptional situation.

“We, as players, are always here to help the club when they ask.

“It does not cease to surprise us that from within the club there were those who tried to put us under the magnifying glass and tried to add pressure to do something that we always knew we would do.

“If we didn’t speak until now, it’s because the priority was to find solutions to help the club and to see who the most affected were during this situation.

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“For our party, the moment has arrived that, the cut will be 70 percent of our wage during the state of alarm. We will also help out the club in order for the workers to be paid 100 percent of their wages.”