Messi's father: My son will never leave Barcelona

The Argentine's dad has little doubt that he will remain at Camp Nou until the end of his career, while he is surprised to see the attacker break Gerd Muller's record

                               AFP

Lionel Messi is destined to remain at Barcelona until the end of his career, according to the player's father.

The Argentina international has a contract with the Blaugrana until the summer of 2016, and his dad Jorge has stressed that the fans of the Catalan giants can rest easy knowing that a potential exit for the forward is "unthinkable".

"I cannot imagine that he will ever leave the club, that's simply unthinkable," Jorge Messi told Cadena Cope. "He is feeling very well here and he has always insisted that he wants to remain at Barca."

Messi broke Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals for club and country in a calendar year in the 2-1 win over Betis at the weekend, and Jorge admitted that he never imagined his son would score that many goals within 12 months.

"He has surprised even me. We never thought it would be possible to best such a monstrous amount of goals and it wasn't easy," he explained.

Messi is currently on 86 goals and will be keen to add to his tally in the Copa del Rey match over Cordoba on Wednesday.