DBasia.news – Barcelona legend Xavi gave his predictions on until what age would Lionel Messi continued to play. According to Al-Sadd’s coach, La Pulga would retire before the age of 40.
Lionel Messi is now 32 years old. Despite being in his thirties, the Argentina megastar still maintains his performance at the world’s top level. This season he has scored 24 goals in all competitions before football stopped due to the corona virus.
Six Ballon d’Or winners are still primed. Xavi (40 years) predicts Messi’s career will still last a while in Europe for at least the next three or four years. Moreover, Messi has maintained good health.
“He still has five or seven years that are very good in him,” Xavi said as quoted by Goal.
“He takes care of himself and he can continue playing until he is 37, 38 or 39 years old. He will play in the Qatar World Cup (2022), I’m sure of that,” he believes.
There is a chance Xavi will coach Messi if he continues to continue his career at Barcelona. He confirmed the conversations with Barcelona in January before the club finally appointed Quique Setien as Ernesto Valverde’s replacement.
“In January, it was not the right time,” Xavi added regarding the offer to coach Barcelona.
“I had a conversation with Eric Abidal (Barcelona’s Sporting Director) and Oscar Grau (Barcelona’s Chief Executive) and a big offer, but it was not the right time.”
“I need a little more experience. Coaching Barcelona is my dream. I would love to do it one day. I have said that many times,” explained the former midfielder who played in Barcelona from 1998 to 2015.