Barcelona & Messi: The End?

Things aren't so sunny in Barcelona. Following a very disappointing season, Barcelona look set for a revamp. Quique Setién is gone with Ronald Koeman appointed to take charge of that rebuild. Several players have been put on sale with the likes of Luis Suárez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitić, and Jordi Alba all on sale or worst-case scenario, have their contracts terminated. However, the biggest discussion has been the future of Lionel Messi. The Argentine has talked with new coach Ronald Koeman and, has stated that he feels more out of the club than in. Now, reports have confirmed that Lionel Messi has asked to leave the club by activating an exit clause on his contract or to have his contract terminated which expires in 2021. This has sparked the entire football world into a frenzy. People are shocked that Messi, Barcelona's greatest player is leaving the club. Particularly under these circumstances. How did this happen and will this affect his legacy in Barcelona?

Lionel Messi's relationship with Barcelona goes deep and is let's say an adopted son of Barcelona. The Argentine has been at the club for nearly twenty years, making his debut in 2004 winning countless honours including 10 La Liga titles and 4 Champions League titles. He is also the club's all-time leading scorer with 634 goals in 731 appearances with numerous records to back it up. He is undoubtedly Barcelona's greatest ever player and one of the greatest players to have ever played the game. Having come up through Barcelona's La Masia, he is someone that understands Barcelona and looks to finish his career at the Catalan club. Becoming a one-club man like Maldini, Carlos Puyol, Totti. That is until now. Messi has asked to leave the club this summer as he is unhappy with how the club is operating, it looks like it has gone to the point of no return. Barcelona fans went out on the streets of Barcelona and outside of Camp Nou to protest the move and call for Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu to resign. There have been conflicting reports following an emergency meeting yesterday that Bartomeu has resigned which was not confirmed by the club and Bartomeu himself.

The main reason for Messi's decision to leave Camp Nou has been down to him not believing in the project at Barcelona. He has uncharacteristically been quite vocal over the past couple of months about the club behind the scenes, going after former sporting director Eric Abidal for stating that the players down tools to sack Ernesto Valverde. He has also stated that Barcelona is not in a good position to compete for the highest honours within the next couple of years due to the club's financial situation, poor transfer recruitment and the lack of direction from the board. Josep Bartomeu has been Barcelona's president has been at the club since 2014 and is widely unpopular at the club from the supporters to those that have connections to the club. Barcelona's decline, as well as the Neymar sale, have been under his watch but if Messi leaves, he will be remembered as the man that let Messi walk away from Barcelona and he will have blood on his hands.

They seem to be a power struggle between Messi and Bartomeu on who comes out on top. Messi has stated his desire to stay at Barcelona but will leave if Bartomeu stays at the helm. Bartomeu, however, is still staying on as Barca president despite the calls for him to resign or push for the elections to move forward. There will also be a narrative that is already happening from the Catalan media on the situation. Given the board's control over the Catalan press, they will try to spin the narrative that it is Messi's fault and that he is the bad guy not him. There's also another situation regarding Messi's contract at Barcelona which expires in 2021 with a release clause of 700 million euros. A part of the contract states that Messi has an exit clause which gives him the ability to leave Barcelona on his terms. However, there are complications to that. The clause expired in June but Messi and his entourage believe that it is still viable as the season just recently conceded. This complication with his contract would result in a court case that could get messy. Literally.

The news of Messi leaving has sent shock-waves across the sports world with some reacting with humour, sadness, and anger. The other question is who can get Messi. The club that looks to be considering making an offer is Manchester City. Messi is familiar with some people at the club from Txiki Bergiristain and Ferran Soriano at the board level to manager Pep Guardiola, who has worked with Messi at Barcelona. They do have the finances to make it happen but will City make the move? Make no mistake, Messi is still capable of playing at the highest despite being age 33. Even though we imagined Messi leaving Barcelona, it would never be under these kinds of circumstances. Will this affect Messi's legacy at Barcelona? No. Messi has given Barcelona his all from a teenager to now, becoming the club's greatest player with countless moments that brought us off our seats. However, seeing where the club is heading and with little time left in his career, it looks like the end between Barcelona and Messi has come. For the football world, it is a sad one as we would have loved to see Messi as a one-club man but things don't end the way we want. It looks like that's the case here.