It’s over. Lionel Messi will no longer continue at Barcelona and will leave the club for pastures new according to a statement released by the Catalan giants on Thursday evening. Barcelona revealed that they reached an agreement with the Argentine to renew his expired contract, but that it couldn’t be confirmed due to economic and structural obstacles laid down by La Liga.
I know everybody’s thinking City, but in our article this week on Kane we explained the scenario with City and Messi. Twelve months ago: they were balls out for Messi. But it didn’t happen. That was the second time (2016 previously) so by this point they won’t shelve Kane
— Sam Lee (@SamLee) August 5, 2021
Faced with this situation, Messi will leave the club he joined as a pimply-faced teenager. Both parties, according to the statement, deeply regret the situation and the fact that the wishes of neither the club nor the player could be fulfilled. Barcelona thanked Messi in their statement for his contribution to the growth of the club and wished him the best in his personal and professional life.
So City wanted Kane 12 months ago. Messi rang. “I’m leaving Barca”. He didn’t. He couldn’t. In the meantime, City shelved Kane. Ended up with neither. In 2016, Messi was coming. Didn’t happen, he changed his mind. Two strikes and you’re out.
— Sam Lee (@SamLee) August 5, 2021
The two clubs that have immediately come to mind as possible destinations for Messi are the same two who were so keen on him last summer; Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain. Sam Lee, however, a journalist that covers the former closely, said that “something mental” would have to happen for City to go for Messi again after twice failing to land him in the past, especially given how advanced their negotiations with Harry Kane are right now.
