It's 'essential' Lionel Messi isn't allowed to leave Barcelona in 2021 if the team wants to return to its glory days, a club icon says

• Ronald Koeman is bringing back Johan Cruyff's Barcelona, but the club isn't yet ready to let go of Lionel Messi.
• That's according to Barca legend Albert Ferrer, who says Messi staying at the Camp Nou next year is "essential."
• "As long as we can keep Messi, it will be better for Barcelona," Ferrer told Insider.

Ronald Koeman is bringing back Johan Cruyff's legendary Barcelona side of the early 1990s through players like Frenkie de Jong and the club's youngsters, but they aren't yet ready to take the reins from Lionel Messi.

That's according to Barcelona icon Albert Ferrer, who told Insider exclusively this week that Messi staying at the Camp Nou next season is "essential" to Koeman's Barca revolution.

Koeman, who played under Cruyff and alongside Ferrer for the Catalans during the 1990s, took over as Barcelona manager in August following the sacking of Quique Setien.

The Dutchman endured a rough start as head coach, losing four and drawing two of his first 10 La Liga games in charge, however has since turned the ship around.

Koeman's Barcelona is currently unbeaten in the Spanish top flight since the start of December and has won its last six games on the bounce - form that has seen it rise to third place and just three points behind rivals Real Madrid with a game in hand.

Ferrer says his former teammate is doing a "brilliant" job at the Camp Nou, and that the similarities between his style of management and Johan Cruyff's are stark.

"I think he's doing fantastic," Ferrer told Insider of Koeman at a celebration of La Liga's 90th birthday on Thursday.

"It wasn't easy, I think it is a period where they've had a lot of problems financially and also they don't have a president at the moment, so it's not the best time to land in Barcelona and try to change everything.

"But I think little by little he's getting into the players and the players are starting to believe again in what he's doing.

The key similarity between Koeman's Barcelona and Cruyff's, Ferrer said, is the team's attacking flair.

"I think it's fair to say that this Barcelona is very similar to the Barcelona that Ronald Koeman and myself played in the the early 90s. It's a very offensive team, and a team able to concede chances and goals every single game, like we've seen Real Betis and Granada score goals against them. But they create so many chances."

Cruyff, with Ferrer and Koeman in his team, guided Barcelona to four consecutive La Liga titles between 1990 and 1994.

His "Dream Team" played an early version of a style which is now known as "tiki-taka" - focusing on short, fast passing and movement, maintaining possession, and positional interchange among midfielders.

"He tries to make the players understand what is the philosophy of Johan Cruyff's Barcelona," added Ferrer, who is now a pundit for LaLigaTV.

"It is difficult to do exactly the same as Johan did when we were there, because the football has changed, it has become more physical, but I think he's basically trying to do the same things."

Ferrer singled out Dutchman Frenkie de Jong, who joined Barcelona from Ajax in 2019, as key to Koeman's new Barcelona.

"One of the things Barcelona missed in the last years before Ronald Koeman arrived was players like Txiki Begiristain, Ronald Koeman, and Guillermo Amor, who come into the box from the second line.

"Koeman has recovered that, Koeman got that back with Frenkie de Jong, who is a player that plays as both holding midfielder and offensive midfielder and gets into the box more times than any striker.

"So he's trying to recover, trying to bring back things that live in that period in the 90s and I think it's going to be successful."

Ferrer also hailed Koeman for helping bring on players from the club's much-vaunted La Masia youth academy, which in the past produced the likes of Messi, Andres Iniesta, Pep Guardiola, and Xavi. In particular, Ferrer singled out Pedri, who made his debut in October last year.

"What he's doing with Pedri is unbelievable," he said. "The personality that he has to keep playing [Ronald] Araújo, [Óscar] Mingueza, and young players, I think this is the way.

"Barcelona supporters I think they understand that this is not the season that they need to win La Liga, this is a season of growing, and that possibly Ronald Koeman is the best manager Barcelona can have to do so."

Lionel Messi is "essential" to Koeman's revolution

Messi, who has been with Barcelona since he was 12 years old, shocked the footballing world in August 2020 by declaring his intention to leave the Camp Nou by handing in a transfer request.

Though the move away never materialized with the Argentine backing down amid a dispute over his contract, Messi is yet to sign a new deal and is free to leave the club this summer.

Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain are favorites for the 33-year-old's signature, however Ferrer says losing Messi is simply not an option for Barcelona if it wants Koeman's revolution to continue.

"It is essential for Barcelona, because I think the players are not ready yet to take this challenge," Ferrer told Insider when asked if Messi must stay at the club next year.

"As long as we can keep Messi, it will be better for Barcelona because he is going to teach all the young talents, they are going to learn from him.

"Some of them, obviously won't be the next Messi, but will have to take the responsibility. We've seen players over the past years that haven't taken it, like Ousmane Dembele for example, who are now doing it. Pedri will be the one. Ansu Fati will be the one.

"Having Messi at Barcelona will be crucial."