Lionel Messi's contract is at the centre of his dispute with Barcelona.
The forward no longer considers himself part of the club after requesting a transfer, but the club are insisting that his 700 million euro release clause remains in play.
As a result of the delayed end to the 2019/20 season, Messi believes that the June 10 deadline for notifying the club of his desire to leave is no longer valid.
June 10 would've been ten days after the Champions League final in normal circumstances this year and Messi sent his transfer request to Barcelona just two days after the final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
Furthermore, Messi believes that, during the last year of his contract, the 700 million euro release clause is no longer valid - as reported by El Larguero on Saturday.
Barcelona introduced this clause, allowing Messi to leave during the last year of his deal, because the agreement to extend his contract was a friendly one.
Any club that wants to sign Messi will have to pay a transfer fee, but it will be nowhere near the 700 million euro mark.
Therefore, not only does the Argentine think he's free from his contract, but he thinks that any club he joins would have to pay much less than 700 million euros to sign him.
If Messi leaves the Camp Nou for free this summer, he could face legal action from Barcelona for failing to comply with his contract.
Either way, Barcelona will not let this go - they are demanding any club that wants to sign Messi must pay his full release clause.
Should the player leave the Catalan club this summer without an agreement on both sides, the transfer fee will be decided by a tribunal.
In the meantime, Messi is refusing to show up for PCR testing or the start of pre-season but remains keen to hold talks with Barcelona to arrange a peaceful exit.
razeem_th
343
Messi on IG: Board should take ownership of their mistakes. Bartomeu : We have great relationship with Leo. He is going to retire at Barca. 2 Months later ⤵️ Messi: Our team lacks intensity and motivation to compete in UCL at high level Setien: It's his opinion, we are the best and we can win the championship Barca loses 2-8 ⤵️ Messi and new coach Koeman meet Messi: I don't trust the sporting project. Nothing has changed in last 3 years despite board's promises. Bartomeu: He is key part of Koeman's project. He will retire at Barca Board fires Suarez, Vidal and Rakitic over phone ⤵️ Messi sends a notice to board that he wants out as he does not see his future at the club anymore. Bartomeu: He is key part of Koeman's project. He will retire at Barca Messi starts talks with City. Bartomeu: Say you will stay at barca in public and I'll resign 1 day later ⤵️ Messi: I want to end on good terms. Let's negotiate. Bartomeu: We are not selling you unless the buying club pays €700M. If you noticed in the thread, Messi has been trying to communicate for months. The board ignored him. NOW, they want to take him to court over his transfer If people are still blaming Messi in this, they should go work with this board because they deserve only that! This board has failed to replace Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta and Dani Alves. Now they are firing Suarez with no replacement when he offered to start from bench. If you believe in their lies, which have fed you for THREE long years, then you deserve to cry over many more 2-8 defeats in the future! With this board, Barca has no future. Bartomeu and his board MUST leave NOW and we might then recover in 2 years!
LunGangte
72
bartomeu this is for you