Messi: Will he go or will he stay? Barcelona’s not playing ball, so this could get very messy
Barcelona finished second in LaLiga – five points behind Real Madrid – were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Athletic Bilbao and were stunned 8-2 in the Champions League quarterfinal by Bayern Munich.And just when the culés thought things could not get worse, they did.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner joined the Catalan club in 2001, aged 14. He has won everything there is to win with the club, including 10 LaLiga, four Champions League and three Club World Cup titles. But his playing days are not over, yet Barcelona fans might need to come to terms with life without Messi – irrespective of when his contract expires.
Messi has said that a clause in his contract allows him to leave on a free clearance now, but Barça have said he should have informed them in June of his intentions to activate the clause.What is certain, though, is that he will be able to leave as a free agent at the end of next season, which does not leave Barcelona much time to either sell him or extend his contract beyond next year.
Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and even Champions League winners Bayern Munich have been named as “possibles”, though none of them would be in a position to afford the €700 million buyout fee.
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