The Best Player on the planet, Lionel Messi has conveyed his decision of not donning the Blaugrana colours in the future to the Boardroom of FC Barcelona.
FC Barcelona’s stance towards Messi has changed drastically since the 8-2 exit to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals which led to the immediate sacking of former coach Quique Setién and the sporting director Eric Abidal. The Dutch man Ronald Koeman was immediately bought in to take over the hot seat at the Camp Nou.
The Argentine star invoked a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave without a transfer fee before the end of his contract. Lionel Messi’s representatives believe he can make that decision unilaterally, thanks to a clause in his contract that enables him to leave free as long as he announces his intention to do so before the end of the season.
FC Barcelona is expected to contest, though, quite when the end of the season is. The club probably will argue that the clause expired at the end of June, when the Spanish and European campaigns were scheduled to finish but was put on hold due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Messi’s side is reportedly convinced that the exceptional circumstances of a pandemic-delayed season rendered that timing irrelevant. It is his, and his representatives’, belief that he is able to activate the clause until the 31st of August, 2020.
Sending the burofax, in this interpretation, triggered that clause, that indicates Messi’s spell of nearly 2 decades is nearing an end. Messi joined FC Barcelona at the age of 13, recruited when an emissary from Barcelona, sent out to watch him play in his hometown, Rosario, Argentina, drew up a contract on a napkin.
His rise, in that time, has mirrored that of his club. Messi’s list of honors extends to 10 Spanish championships, four Champions League trophies and six world player of the year awards. His tally of individual records, if anything, is more remarkable.
He has scored the maximum goals, hattricks, doubles and even has provided the maximum number of assists in the Spanish Top flight. He is a 6 time ballon d’or winner, the award that is presented annually to the Best Player in the world.
Messi made his debut for the Catalans on 16 October, 2004 and since then he has been breaking records and has represented football’s golden standard. Messi has previously suggested that he would finally bid a Goodbye to Football at the Camp Nou but the unusual turn around of events are telling a different story.
The extraordinary development potentially puts the 33-year-old within reach of a dramatic move to Manchester City and a reunion with Pep Guardiola.
Manchester United, PSG, Inter Milan and Juventus are also showing early interest to land the Argentina Great.