Any and all suitors of wantaway Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi have this afternoon been dealt a blow, following the release of a La Liga statement.
Barca exit demanded
Messi’s future has of course proven the talking point of world football this week.
This comes with the Argentine’s place at the Camp Nou, for the first time since his arrival almost 20 years ago, appearing genuinely up in the air ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
Barcelona’s embarrassing Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich earlier this month seemingly represented the straw that broke the camel’s back for Messi.
In a bombshell media announcement on Tuesday, the Camp Nou hierarchy confirmed that their club captain had, via fax, announced his intention to seek out a new club ahead of the 2020/21 campaign:
Breaking: Barcelona confirms that Lionel Messi has told the club he wants to leave
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) August 25, 2020
La Liga stand behind Barca
The issue for Messi, however, is that Barcelona, understandably, do not want to sell.
As confirmed by a host of reliable sources over the last couple of days, Blaugrana president Josep Maria Bartomeu has made it clear that the only avenue by which the 33-year-old could leave the club this summer is if his mammoth €700 million release clause is activated:
El Barcelona se niega a negociar la venta en esa reunión .Bartomeu no acepta que Messi salga por menos de los 700 M€. Sigue pensando que es la pieza clave del proyecto Koeman
— Alfredo Martínez (@Alfremartinezz) August 28, 2020
Messi himself, on the other hand, is thought to have been hopeful that a long-standing clause in his Barca contract would in fact open the door for a free agent exit over the coming weeks.
As outlined above, however, both Messi, and any potential suitors of the legendary attacker, have today been dealt a hammer blow.
In a statement released a short time ago, La Liga provided a definitive verdict on the contract status of Barcelona’s talisman, confirming that, as things stand, his €700 million release clause is in fact still valid.
As such, if Barcelona continue to demand that this sum be stumped up for the club to part with their star attacker, Messi’s exit this summer appears all but impossible.
Official statement by La Liga. They side with Barcelona in Leo Messi contract battle: “Current deal is still valid and paying release clause for €700m is the only way out”. 🛑
Manchester City are still waiting for Barça decision. 🔵 #MCFC pic.twitter.com/p15IWcBRMg
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 30, 2020
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