Ever since Lionel Messi made it abundantly clear that he wanted to leave Barcelona, there was always going to be a chance that things wouldn’t end well.
The current captain has clearly had enough of the club for a multitude of reasons, but which would appear to mainly relate to the fact that Josep Maria Bartomeu and his board are incapable of running Barcelona properly.
Given that he’s likely to have just two to three years left at the very top, Messi’s desire to play in a winning team is also what’s seemingly driven a wedge between him and the Spanish giants.
After some initial jousting from both sides played out in the media, it was reported on Friday afternoon by MARCA and cited by Football Espana that Messi wanted a meeting to smooth over his exit from the club.
However, Football Espana cite a tweet from Spanish football journalist, Guillem Balague, which says that Barcelona have no intention of negotiating the Argentinian’s departure.
#FCB briefing that they can meet Messi but not to negotiate his departure. His exit costs, they say, his buy out clause, €700m
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) August 28, 2020
Though the club are happy to meet with Messi, they will insist that any interested parties will have to pay his release clause of €700m.
To that end, we can be assured that there will be trouble ahead for both club and player as the saga rumbles on.
Farewell to Barcelona.the God of football
Barcelona