Lionel Messi Announces He's Staying at Barcelona This Season

Lionel Messi previously expressed his desire to leave the only club he's ever known as a pro, but he'll play out his contract at Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi will be staying at Barcelona this season after all.

Messi announced his decision to stay on Friday despite expressing his desire to leave the club early last week by way of a now infamous burofax. Ultimately, his contract with the club has a prohibitive €700 million (approximately $835 million) release clause, and the leave-for-free clause that Messi argued he still had in his contact expired in June. 

There was quibbling between his father-agent, Jorge, and the club over the legitimacy of that clause's expiration date due to the end of the season's being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but ultimately La Liga and Barcelona remained firm on the terms. Friday's earlier addition to the saga involved Jorge Messi and La Liga exchanging letters regarding the validity of the release clause, but the league again held its stance. 

With Barcelona unwilling to negotiate a transfer for a fee lower than the release clause, that left Lionel Messi with little choice but to either take the team to court or to stick with the only club he's ever known as a professional for the 2020–21 season. His contract expires at the end of the upcoming season, at which point he will be able to leave for free–unless Barcelona can take the necessary steps to repair the relationship between the two sides and convince him to sign another deal.

“There was another way and it was to go to trial," Messi told Goal. “I would never go to court against Barca because it is the club that I love, which gave me everything since I arrived. It is the club of my life, I have made my life here. Barca gave me everything and I gave it everything. I know that it never crossed my mind to take Barca to court.”

Beleaguered president Josep Bartomeu has offered Messi a new two-year deal through 2023 and will surely continue to attempt to re-sign the Argentine legend again, with club elections set for March. Bartomeu is at the center of Messi's frustrations with the club, with the 33-year-old star telling Goal that he was misled by the president and had made his desire to leave clear. Messi also cited family reasons for not ultimately pursuing an exit any further.

Messi's frustrations with the club boiled over following an 8–2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals. He had previously been critical of the club and sporting director (and his former teammate) Eric Abidal, who wound up being fired after the lopsided defeat. New coach Ronald Koeman has replaced the ousted Quique Setien since, and Ivan Rakitic has been sold to Sevilla as part of a roster churn that should result in more veterans leaving Camp Nou. Luis Suarez is reportedly in talks with Juventus, and Arturo Vidal is reportedly expected to leave for Inter Milan. Philippe Coutinho is one coming the other way, returning to the club after his loan to Bayern.

Koeman made a point when taking over that his plan is to still build around Messi, and he'll have his wish in his first season at the helm. 

Any club hoping to land Messi will have to move on to its regularly scheduled transfer plans. Manchester City was always the most likely landing spot if Messi had departed Barcelona, with a reunion with manager Pep Guardiola a tantalizing proposition and the club being one of the few that could afford his wage demands (and any potential transfer fee). If it happens, it won't be until the 2021–22 season at the earliest.