In a news that is being considered the end of an era, Lionel Messi and Barcelona Football Club are to part ways after 17 years. In its official statement, Barca cited ‘financial obstacle’ for not being able to bring abord the Argentine footballer. Since the news has broken, football fans are in a grim shellshock as no one – including the top of the ranks – had predicted a change of guards to take place out of nowhere.

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Details
Why are Barcelona FC and Messi Parting Ways?
Twitter Erupts with #Endofanera #GraciasMessi Tweets
What’s Next for Lionel Messi?
1) Manchester City
2) Paris St Germain
3) Back to Barcelona

Details

If one hears the name Messi, they would think of the humble, massively talented footballer donning the red and blue Barcelona football club jersey with number 10 written on the back. If one hears the name Barcelona football club, they would think of a unit that won 10 La Liga honours, the Copa del Rey and was led by the Argentine football maestro Lionel Messi.

And thus, it can be safely said that Messi and Barcelona FC were synonymous to each other. Over his 17 years at the football club, Messi held numerous records and proved himself to be at the pinnacle of his sport.

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Why are Barcelona FC and Messi Parting Ways?

On August 6, Barcelona Football Club issued a statement which made every football fan scratch their eyes in disbelief. After hosting the 34-year-old footballer for much of his senior footballing career, Barcelona announced that Messi would indeed need to find a new football club.

In its strangely cold worded statement, the FC wrote-

“Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations).”

The football club also said added how-

“both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled”.

Acknowledging all the accomplishments Messi helped the football club get, Barcelona FC further in its statement added-

“FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandizement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.”

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Twitter Erupts with #Endofanera #GraciasMessi Tweets

As one would expect, microblogging platform Twitter erupted with the hashtag “endofanera” and “graciasmessi” tweets. A massive outpour of emotions was witnessed on the platform.

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What’s Next for Lionel Messi?

Here are our picks as to where Messi can land. A piece of warning, take this speculation with a grain of salt as word hasn’t come from any other football club and from Messi himself.

1) Manchester City

Manchester City comes with one of the deepest pockets in league football in the world. Although it has signed Jack Grealish and other strikers, missing out on Messi would be an opportunity too good to miss.

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2) Paris St Germain

If Messi chooses to go international, no other football club other than PSG could afford Messi. Several reports in the past did mention that PSG was to sign Messi, but that didn’t see the light of day. If PSG does make it happen, they would possess the trio of Pochettino, Neymar and Messi himself.

3) Back to Barcelona

While the statement by Barcelona FC does confirm that it may not be able to have him in the club, some pundits are claiming that its Barca’s bluff. Reports are claiming that Messi leaving Barca would make La Liga give up on their Financial Fair Play regulations as Messi is one of the main reasons why La Liga gets so many eyeballs.

It’s being speculated that Barcelona FC will retain Messi after a restructured contract and all will be well.