Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona is “not impossible”, admits former club director Ariedo Braida, with it suggested that the mercurial Argentine could line up in the same team as eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Exit talk has started to build around the six-time Ballon d’Or winner once more and, not for the first time, a potential reunion with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City has been mooted, with Messi considered by some to be growing disillusioned with life at Camp Nou.
There has been no indication from the man himself that he is looking for a move, but there is a break clause in his current contract which can be triggered at the end of any given season.