Lionel Messi was back in full training with Barcelona on
Wednesday for the first time since conceding defeat in his battle to leave the
club.
Unlike Monday, when the 33-year-old Argentine superstar had
to train alone under La Liga’s coronavirus protocol, he joined up with the rest
of the squad in the session taken by new coach Ronald Koeman.
A club statement reported that others returning to the main
group were Philippe Coutinho, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong and Ansu Fati.
Messi faces another season with the Catalan club after
losing his stand-off with Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu over a 700
million-euro release clause.
The Argentinian superstar hit out at Bartomeu in his bitter
announcement last week that he was staying and warned he was expecting to see
progress, saying: “There is a new coach and new ideas. That’s good, but then we
have to see how the team responds and whether or not it will allow us to
compete at the top level.”
Adding to Messi’s discomfort his two closest friends at
Barcelona, Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal, are expected to join Juventus and
Inter Milan respectively.
Koeman’s first match in charge since replacing Quique Setien
in the aftermath of last month’s humiliating 8-2 Champions League pounding by
Bayern Munich is a friendly against third division opposition on Saturday.
AFP
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