Lionel Messi’s father and agent met Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu on Wednesday to discuss the player's wish to leave the club but the talks ended in stalemate but Jorge Messi said it would be "difficult" for his son to remain with Barcelona, the only club he has ever played for professionally while the meeting lasted one-and-a-half hours and was held in a cordial atmosphere
Lionel Messi’s father and agent met Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu on Wednesday to discuss the player's wish to leave the club but the talks ended in stalemate, Spanish media reported. Earlier, Jorge Messi said it would be "difficult" for his son to remain with Barcelona, the only club he has ever played for professionally. The meeting lasted one-and-a-half hours and was held in a cordial atmosphere, according to media reports including sports dailies Marca and Mundo Deportivo. They said Bartomeu sees Messi as a key part of Barca’s plans to rebuild under new coach Ronald Koeman.
There was no comment from the club. Six-times world player of the year Messi, unhappy at his team`s failure to win any silverware last season and humiliated by an 8-2 Champions League thrashing by Bayern Munich, told the club last week that he wanted to leave. The Argentine insists he has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave on a free transfer - a claim disputed by Barcelona and La Liga, who say he can only leave if a rival club is willing to pay a 700 million euro buyout clause. "I don’t know, I know nothing," Messi’s father told Spanish TV channel Cuatro after flying in on a private jet. Pressed if it would be hard for him to remain, he said "yes", and asked how he sees Messi’s future at Barcelona, he replied "difficult, difficult".
Messi missed a medical on Sunday and did not show up on Monday for the first training session of the season.
Messy situation
In La Liga's official statement, the Spanish governing body of football stated, "The contract is currently in force and has a "termination clause" applicable to the event that Lionel Andrés Messi decides to urge the early unilateral termination of the contract, carried out in accordance with article 16 of Royal Decree 1006/1985, of June 26, by which regulates the special employment relationship of professional athletes."
"In compliance with the applicable regulations, and following the corresponding procedure in these cases, LaLiga will not carry out the prior visa process for the player to be removed from the federation if they have not previously paid the amount of said clause."
Barca players have been coming at the Blaugrana's Sant Joan Despi training centre for their health checks ahead of the 2020-21 La Liga season. On Tuesday, Messi had shocked Barcelona by asking the club to let him leave. Messi had asked Barcelona to activate a clause in his contract which will allow him to leave for free. His contract with Barcelona is currently up to 2021. Manchester City, Inter Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain are the few clubs that have shown an interest in Messi.
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