Explained: Will Messi leave Barcelona, and will he reunite with Pep Guardiola in England?

Signalling a possible end to one of modern football's enduring associations, Barcelona's iconic Argentine striker Lionel Messi announced his desire to leave the club after nearly two decades with the Spanish giants—the only professional team he has played for. The club had confirmed to the news agency AP late on Tuesday that the Messi sent a fax expressing his desire to leave. 

The announcement comes days after Barcelona's humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals—one of the worst defeats in the player's career, and in the club's history. The defeat capped a difficult season for Barcelona—the first without a title since 2007-08—and ignited one of its worst crises ever. The forgettable campaign also saw the sacking of coach Quique Setien, who stayed only 25 matches on the job after taking over from Ernesto Valverde in January. Setien was replaced by Dutchman Ronald Koeman.

Upon hearing the news, Barcelona fans descended on the Camp Nou stadium, pleading for Messi to stay and calling for the resignation of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, multiple Catalan newspapers reported. 

Why did Messi make the decision now?

Catalan radio station RAC1 claimed that the Argentina great met with new Barcelona coach Koeman and told him that his future was not clear and that he was not happy with the current situation at Barcelona. As per a Reuters report, Messi had made clear his displeasure about leaked media reports that appeared to hold him responsible for certain events that have transpired at the club, such as the sacking of coach Valverde early this year.

Messi always had an outsized influence at Barcelona, and has often made public his discontent with the Barcelona board and president Bartomeu. Recently, he hit out against Bartomeu for implying that the players were unwilling to take a pay cut amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that there were people within the club trying to add pressure on the players to do something that "we always knew we would do". The 33-year-old also accused Bartomeu of undermining the players and hiring a PR firm to attack him and his teammates on social media. Messi also admitted in an interview that the current team was not good enough to win the Champions League this season.

The latest spark for Messi's anger seems to have been his meeting with Koeman, where, Spanish outlets reported, the new Barcelona coach told Messi "your privileges are over". Multiple publications cited reports of Koeman's brusque, one-minute phone call with Messi's close friend and strike partner Luis Suarez, who was informed that he was no longer a part of the club's plans moving forward, as another reason for his departure. Other reports said that midfielders Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic, and defender Samuel Umtiti have also been told they are no longer wanted.

Suarez and former teammate Carles Puyol both publicly tweeted support for Messi.  

Former Barcelona president Joan Laporte, who helmed the club from 2003 to 2010, called on Bartomeu to resign. "Bartomeu and his board must resign immediately," he tweeted. "They have been undermining the morale of Messi to save themselves from the economic and sporting turmoil they have created. If they resigned there would still be hope that Messi would stay at Barca."

Can Messi leave?

Here lies the legal tangle. Messi's release clause in the contract, which originally would have kept him at Barca till the end of the 2020-21 season, was reportedly around 700 million euros. But, according to news agency Reuters, there is a clause in his contract which provides him with the option to leave the club for free anytime before June this year. This is the clause that the Argentine's lawyers cited in their fax to the board. This is also the clause that the club leadership refused to accept, stating that they wanted him to stay and finish his career at Barcelona. 

According to the Guardian, Barcelona believe the deadline for that clause to be applied has expired, as he had to inform them of his decision before June. However, since the emergence of the coronavirus queered up the season timings, which extended into the summer and did not formally end until the Champions League final last Sunday, Messi’s lawyers have reportedly argued that the deadline should be pushed forward to August 31.

Speaking to Radio Marca and transcribed by Goal, Joan Gaspart, who was the Barcelona president from 2000 to 2003, stated that the club holds all the cards and said that Messi cannot unilaterally void his deal. "I have seen the contract and it is very clear. The clause ended in June and there is no going back," Gaspart said. "I prefer him to leave next year for free than to go for less than 700 million euros. The club rules here, not the player. The club has paid the players. And this is not a matter of money anyway, because there is a signed contract and that's it. I understand that Messi is being pressured to leave, but if I am the president of Barca, I will not negotiate one euro. Not one euro."

With all these uncertainties, only one thing is clear. The relationship between the club and their iconic star has been irredeemably damaged, and there is no coming back from it. 

Will Messi reunite with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City?

Eventhough the chances of it seem highly unlikely, credible publications like The Athletic and broadcasting giants like ESPN are now reporting that Messi's camp is in touch with Manchester City and Pep Guardiola for a possible move to the Etihad next season. Under Guardiola, between 2008 and 2012 in Barcelona, Messi had his best years, winning two Champions League titles and three Spanish La Ligas, and cruising on to win a treble. The team was built around Messi, and Guardiola has since admitted that Messi was the best he has ever seen. 

Again, it is important to remember that there are a lot of moving pieces in play here. This is also a political issue, and there are concerns that Messi's exit rumours could be a ploy to force a Bartomeu exit. The latter had insisted he will stay on, preferring instead to lay the blame on sacked sporting director Eric Abidal and coach Setien. 

Manchester City has vehemently denied links to Messi, and it is important to remember that Guardiola had earlier asked Messi to finish his career at Barcelona. 

-Inputs from Reuben Joe Joseph