Zidane believes Messi being in La Liga only makes the competition better and has urged the Argentina international to stay put in Barcelona.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner tried to force a move out of Catalonia before the beginning of this campaign after Barcelona ended the 2019-2020 season poorly.
Messi’s frustration was compounded when his friend and team-mate Luis Suarez was shipped out to Atletico Madrid.
Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan were all said to be mulling over the possibility of snapping up Messi but Barcelona blocked every potential move.
Messi will be out of contract at the end of this season and could choose to join any club of his choice but Zidane has cajoled the Argentine to stay with the Blaugrana.
“I don’t want it to be Messi’s last Clasico,” Zidane said during Friday’s pre-Clasico press conference ahead of Real Madrid’s home game against their arch rivals Barcelona.
“Let him stay, let him stay at Barcelona. He’s good there. It’s good for LaLiga if he stays.”
“We know what a player Messi is. He may not be scoring goals, but we know what a player he is,” Zidane added.
“We are going to play against Barcelona. It’s true that we know what a player he is, but they are all very good.
“We’re going to try to stop their strengths, because there have a lot. Hopefully it won’t be his last Clasico and he stays here.”
