Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart insisted Lionel Messi cannot leave the embattled La Liga giants on a free transfer as he hit out at the six-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Messi has sensationally told Barca he wants to leave the club, who replaced Quique Setien with Ronald Koeman after they were dethroned by Real Madrid in La Liga and humiliated by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The 33-year-old's contract runs until June 2021 and is said to have a clause in his deal that allowed him to leave on a free transfer at the end of the 2019-20 campaign.