Diego Maradona and his assistant Carlos Bilardo had successful talks with Barcelona star Lionel Messi on Thursday as the new Argentine national team coaching set-up continue their tour of Europe."We had a very positive meeting with Messi," Bilardo told reporters as he left the hotel Majestic in Barcelona following talks with the 21 year old.
"It is good that he wants to be involved in all the games that the national team play and we leave the talks fully content with the result," he affirmed.
Maradona and Bilardo had hoped to speak with Barcelona president Joan Laporta to negotiate the release of Messi for Argentina's friendly with Scotland on the 19th November, but were unable to do so as Laporta had to travel to Brussels.
Barcelona had agreed with the AFA that Messi would be rested for friendly matches, but Maradona is keen to have him at his disposal for his first game in charge and also intends to meet with Barca coach Josep Guardiola to discuss the possibility during his visit to Europe.
Yesterday, Maradona and Bilardo met with Real Madrid pair Gabriel Heinze and Fernando Gago as part of their efforts to smooth over relationships with certain European based players that had become strained in the final days of Alfio Basile's reign.
The next stop is Germany, where they will meet Bayern Munich duo Jose Sosa and Martin Demichelis, before travelling to England to speak with Manchester United's Carlos Tevez and Liverpool's Javier Mascherano.
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