Except in this case the grown man caught his hot childhood sweetheart
IMHO, with one foot out the door having already decided once to leave back in August he will give the candidates a chance to seduce him with their project for the club. Of course, Bartomeu promised many things too that he never delivered on much less intended to
The x-factor in that regard is Laporta because at a minimum there is trust & experience with him and that he will deliver on. The problem remains the same as I see it, can Joan protect/insulate the players much Messi from the toxic Nunista media campaign that will continue to destabilize on top of having a coherent sporting plan? Or even pledge to do so adequately to placate Leo considering what he has endured for years now? Laporta has most of our affections, even among players and his enthusiasm is infectious - will it tip the scales for Messi though?
Font has a coherent sporting plan but is not a natural leader and not someone Messi likely has great faith/trust in, even if he indeed recruits Puyol, Xavi et al as part of platform (There are rumours that Xavi is having doubts)
I think it is clear January will not happen despite it making sense to do so for several reasons with the biggest hurdle being elections that should happen before end of December but currently planned for late January
From there, Laporta or Font will spend months trying to convince Messi until June and conceivably it will give the player an idea of what they can deliver on. Equally, I am convinced a verbal pact can already be in place with City should he exit in June so the point of a formal contract is irrelevant.
Nevertheless, I don't see how the question of Leo's future won't be the topic of every pressy until summer despite public denials etc. I do not expect Messi to speak out about this publicly
