Iniesta casts doubt on Barca future

Barcelona great Andres Iniesta has conceded he is considering his future at the club.

Along with Lionel Messi, Iniesta is one of the most famed and decorated graduates of Barca’s La Masia youth system and has won 20 major honours over a career-long association with the club.

But the 33-year-old, who scored the winning goal for Spain in the 2010 World Cup final, is out of contract at the end of this season and yet to sign a new deal.

Barcelona endured a disappointing start to life under Ernesto Valverde last week as bitter rivals Real Madrid ran out 5-1 aggregate winners in the Supercopa de Espana and the club is still reeling from losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.

And the sense that an end of an era is upon Camp Nou will have been heightened a little more by Iniesta’s words in an interview with El Pais.

“Right now, I have still not signed a new contract,” he said.

“I have felt many strange feelings for the first time, but I think this may be normal.

“This is a scenario that, probably three years ago, I could never have imagined.

“Let’s say that I sometimes ask myself about me future when I didn’t do it before.”

Preparadospic.twitter.com/Csvc2IL1Rk

— Andrés Iniesta (@andresiniesta8) August 12, 2017

Barcelona open their LaLiga campaign at home to Real Betis on Sunday with striker Luis Suarez absent alongside Iniesta due to an knee injury.

The playmaker is keen for his team-mates to get back to winning ways after their humbling against Madrid.

“I feel like everyone else, with enthusiasm and ambition to win again and to recover that respect we’ve had for a long time,” he said.

“[Madrid] are a great team, with the best players in the world, but I want to say that our challenge is to find what we lost last year.

“The Supercopa was a painful defeat because it was the first title we could win but they were very effective.

“All the defeats, especially against Madrid, always raise questions, [as does] the situation that has taken place in the last few weeks.

“For us this must be one more challenge to do things well.”