Lionel Messi and Barcelona are heading for a huge legal battle over a clause in his contract that the Argentine says allows him to leave for free

• Lionel Messi has told FC Barcelona he wants to leave the club, however could face a huge legal battle over his contract ahead of any proposed move.
• Messi, 33, announced his desire to leave the Camp Nou on Tuesday, and his advisers believe he is free to leave due to a clause in his contract.
• The clause states he can leave free so as long as he announces his intention to do so before the closing of the season.
• According to The New York Times, Barcelona is set to argue that the season ended in June, while Messi's camp say it did so in August due to the effect of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Lionel Messi has told FC Barcelona he wants to leave the club, however could face a huge legal battle over his contract ahead of any proposed move.

Messi, 33, announced his desire to leave the Camp Nou on Tuesday, sending a burofax to the club stating his intention to move on.

The Argentine is believed to be unhappy with the club's hierarchy and performance in recent seasons, and the club's 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League was the final straw.

According to The New York Times, Messi's advisers believe he is able to leave Barcelona for free due to a clause in his contract which states he can leave free so as long as he announces his intention to do so before the closing of the season.

Barcelona, though yet to publicly address the situation, is expected to contest that the clause expired in June — the date when the season was originally set to finish — and that any interested party must now meet the $825 million buyout clause in Messi's contract.

However, the Argentine's camp reportedly believe the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the campaign means that the deadline should be pushed back to the end of August, with Barcelona having only played its last game on August 14.

After news of Messi's transfer request broke, Barcelona fans took to the city's streets to demand that president Josep Maria Bartomeu resign.

Many fans blame Bartomeu for the club's shortcomings since he took over in 2015, and believe that his resignation is now the only way to stop Messi leaving.

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