In a shock development, Lionel Messi, arguably the biggest star in world football today, has informed his club Barcelona that he wants to leave.

According to The Guardian, quoting RAC1 radio, Messi informed his new manager Ronald Koeman that he felt "more out than in", and informed the club of his decision via fax.

The Argentinian international apparently has a clause in his contract that allows him to terminate it without needing the club's approval, provided he communicates this decision to the club by a set deadline.

Normally, the deadline is the end of May each year, which is when the Spanish league usually finishes.

But due to 2020's pandemic-stricken league season, it ended with the Champions League final in late August.

Messi believes the deadline should, therefore, be extended to end-August 2020 instead.

The difference is not insignificant. Either Messi walks away for free, or he is burdened by a massive 700 million euro (S$1.13 billion) buyout clause. A legal battle looks certain.

If Messi does manage to leave scot-free, it may spark the biggest mad dash for a player's signature in recent football memory.

Where will he go?

Usually, a global superstar like Messi would command a transfer fee in the high double digits, perhaps even the low triple digits, even with his age of 33 taken into account.

But if Messi leaves Barcelona for nothing, there will be no shortage of clubs eager to get him to put pen to paper, even with finances stretched tight by Covid-19.

Not only will Messi instantly transform any reasonably good team into title-contenders, the commercial benefits a star like him will add to his next club is not to be sniffed at.

Some Barcelona legends have already sent messages that suggest Messi is on his way out.

Carles Puyol tweeted (translated), "Respect and admiration, Leo. All my support, friend."

Respeto y admiración, Leo. Todo mi apoyo, amigo.

— Carles Puyol (@Carles5puyol) August 25, 2020

Luis Suarez, whose own contract was recently terminated by Barcelona, replied to the tweet with the applause emoticon.

👏👏

— Luis Suárez (@LuisSuarez9) August 25, 2020

Suarez and Messi were in the team when Barcelona were humiliated 8-2 by Bayern Munich, knocking them out of the Champions League.

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Top image from Bein Sports Asia's YouTube channel.