Argentina keeper Guzman has ‘Messi clause’ in contract letting him sign for Newell’s Old Boys if Barca legend joins them
ARGENTINIAN keeper Nahuel Guzman has a stipulation in his contract that would allow him to join Newell’s Old Boys – but only if Lionel Messi joined him.
Guzman, 34, played for Argentine side Newell’s before joining Tigres in 2014 and in his contract he is allowed to return if Barcelona legend Messi was at the club too.
The stopper told told TyC Sports: “When I proposed the clause [to Tigres], they told me they would include it.
“I would be delighted if it happened because Messi wants it [to happen] and is motivated to play in Argentina, although it is difficult to imagine.
“We all have our own family situations and I imagine there is also the issue of exposure.”
Messi, who has featured alongside Guzman at international level, played for Newell’s as a youth star before joining LaLiga giants Barca in 2001 as a 13-year-old.
The 32-year-old has opened the door about an emotional return one day, hinting he would end his career in his homeland.
But for now the forward is focusing on extending his contract Nou Camp deal, which expires next season.
It comes as he also opened up about on his frustration of losing loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic and predicted football will “never be the same”.
The 32-year-old told El Pais, via Goal: : “Most of us are left with doubts about what the world is going to be like after everything that has happened.
“Beyond the confinement and the situation that took us by surprise, many people had a really hard time because this situation affected them in some way, as it happened with all those who lost their family and friends and could not even see them.
“I think there were a lot of negative things in this crisis, but there can be nothing worse than losing the people you love the most, that creates enormous frustration for me and seems to me the most unfair thing of all.
“Football, like life in general, I think will never be the same.”
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Spain has been one of the hardest-hit countries in the pandemic with 27,125 deaths linked to coronavirus from 286,308 confirmed cases.
Meanwhile in Messi’s home of Argentina, 528 people have died with a severe economic impact also taking its toll on the South American nation.
The Barcelona forward has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to medical needs in both countries.