Xavi fancies Lionel Messi to play until the age of 40

Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez has hailed the mental strength of Lionel Messi and believes the Argentine has the capacity to play until the age of 40. Messi has been with the Blaugrana throughout his professional career and he is presently their all-time scorer with 564 goals across all competitions.

Speaking to reporters, Xavi was complimentary of his former teammate and believes the Argentine has the credentials to prolong his footballing career until the age of 40, he said: “For a player like Messi, you need very little to do to play for as long as he is 38, 39 or 40. He is incomparable. Let’s be honest, what do you lose when you grow old as a footballer? Physical pace?But mental pace, that’s what Messi has and that won’t diminish. I think that he would be able to play wherever he wants on the park. He already drifts into the centre of the field and is effective there, as he is at defending too because he is very strong mentally.”

“Messi’s future had been put into question during the previous campaign with his contract expiring in June 2019. However,“ the Catalan giants were quick to
“resolve his future by rewarding“ with a two-year extension on a bumper wage package and he now appears likely to remain with the Spanish champions for the remaining years of his professional career.

Messi had a 2018 World Cup to forget as Argentina could only make it to the round of 16 stage but this has not hampered his form with Barcelona this term with 12 goals and five assists in the space of just 12 matches. He is currently on a recovery path after sustaining an arm injury during a league clash against Sevilla but reports suggest that he could return to contention before the next international break.