OREANDA-NEWS. The leadership of the Spanish football club Barcelona confirmed that Lionel Messi intends to leave the team.

This is reported by Associated Press with reference to the press service of the Catalan club. It informed that the Argentine player sent a document to the administration, in which he announced his desire to leave. A response document was sent to Messi, in which representatives of Barcelona declared that they want the striker to stay and finish his career in this team. At the same time, the press service hinted that if the player does not want to negotiate, then a legal battle may begin.

Information that Messi made the decision to leave the team appeared on the evening of August 25 in a number of Spanish media. According to them, the 33-year-old forward announced that he intends to use the right, prescribed in his current contract, to terminate the agreement unilaterally.

Messi’s contract with Barcelona is valid until the summer of 2021. It has a clause according to which a player can leave if another club pays at least 700 million euros of compensation for the transfer.

Messi has been in the Barcelona system since the age of 13. He is the club’s top scorer, ten-time winner of Spanish championship and four-time winner of the Champions League.