Global Soccer Icon Lionel Messi Leaving Barcelona After 17 Years

David Ramos/Getty

FC Barcelona has announced that their star forward, Lionel Messi, is leaving after 17 years of service to the club.

News broke Thursday afternoon and sent shockwaves around the global football community, as the 34-year-old legend was thought to be negotiating a pay cut in a new contract designed to help the financially strapped Barcelona club. But in a statement released via Twitter, Barcelona announced the Messi era at the club was over:

The FC Barcelona website includes the following statement:

Despite having reached an agreement between FC Barcelona and Leo Messi and with the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, it cannot be formalized due to economic and structural obstacles (Spanish LaLiga regulations). Given this situation, Lionel Messi will not continue linked to FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of both the player and the Club cannot finally be fulfilled. Barça would like to thank with all its heart the player’s contribution to the enhancement of the institution and wishes him the best in his personal and professional life.

Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest living soccer player, and certainly in the conversation for greatest of all time. His fame and likeness are so global that he has appeared in numerous commercials in the United States despite the fact he speaks next to no English.

Where will Messi land? Well, that’s the question on every soccer head’s mind at the moment. Given his outsized largesse, he will demand — even at this late stage of his career — a lot. The clubs that can afford him are likely those owned by mega-wealthy Emirates and/or oligarchs. So Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG, and perhaps Man United are the likeliest destinations.

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