Captain Lionel Messi has told Barcelona he wishes to leave the club immediately, a source confirmed on Wednesday (NZ time), deepening the turmoil within the Catalan side.
Reuters understands the club received a burofax from Messi's lawyers declaring that the player, who has spent his entire career at Barca, wished to leave. A burofax is a service used in Spain to urgently dispatch a document through a certified email, which issues a digital certificate with legal validity.
The club has subsequently sent Messi a burofax, stating they wanted him to stay and finish his career at Barcelona.
The burofax Messi's lawyers sent referred to a clause in the last contract the 33-year-old Argentine signed with the club in 2017, which allowed him to leave for free. That clause expired June 10 this year.
Under the terms of the contract which expires in 2021, the only way Messi can leave without the club's consent is if a rival side pays his release clause of 700 million euros ($NZ1.26m).
The Argentine's request to leave Barceaona comes a day after Spanish media reported that new coach Ronald Koeman told Messi's close friend and strike partner, Luis Suarez, that he does not wish the Uruguayan to stay at the club.
Other reports have said that Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal, Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic and French defender Samuel Umtiti have also been told they are no longer wanted.
Barcelona are in the midst of overhauling their squad following the 8-2 defeat by Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals earlier this month, which condemned the club to a trophyless season for the first time in 12 years.
Messi, who has been named world player of the year a record six times, has grown increasingly unhappy in the last 12 months with how the club is being run under president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
In February, he lashed out at then sporting director Eric Abidal on social media and a couple of months later turned his anger on the club hierarchy for the way in which players were forced to take a pay cut to cope with the financial hit of the coronavirus pandemic.
After Barca surrendered the La Liga title to Real Madrid in July, Messi slammed the team as being "weak" and "vulnerable" during an uncharacteristically fiery post-match interview.
Former Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has backed Messi's wish to leave the club by writing on Twitter: "Respect and admiration, Leo. You have all my support, friend."
Ex-Barcelona president Joan Laporta has blamed Bartomeu for the stance taken by Messi.
"Bartomeu and his board should quit immediately," Laporta tweeted.
"They have undermined Messi to save them from the sporting and financial mess they have created. If they quit there might be some hope that Messi stays at Barca."
