FC Barcelona

Lionel Messi and Barcelona had a tension-filled summer, with the superstar attempting to force his way out of the club.

That didn't happen, and now Messi is hoping to move forward and make the best of a potentially awkward situation—and potentially his final year at Barcelona—as he told Diaro Sport on Tuesday (h/t Sam Marsden of ESPN):

"After so many disagreements, I would like to bring an end to everything and put aside any differences. I take responsibility for my mistakes and, if there were any, they were only to make Barcelona better and stronger. If any fans were annoyed by something that I said or did, let there be no doubt that anything I did was always with the club's best interests in mind."

Barcelona is in upheaval. A number of veteran players, including Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Arda Turan and Arturo Vidal, have been let go.

Messi's situation only inflamed what was already a tenuous time at the club following an 8-2 loss against Bayern Munich in the Champions League in August. Upset at the direction of the club, Messi tried to use a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave on a free transfer if it was exercised before the end of the season.

Barcelona argued that the clause had to be exercised in May, when the season was originally scheduled to end before it was delayed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The club won out, and Messi has returned.

It would have been a shocking end to Messi's time at the only professional club he's ever played for in his career, where he's scored an astonishing 635 goals, over 400 more than any other player in club history.

It's possible Messi will still depart at the end of this season. He has the same clause he could exercise before the end of this campaign. But for now, Messi wants a truce. Given all the turmoil at Barcelona this summer, it probably was received with open arms.

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and former Barca standout Neymar ripped the Spanish club Friday for its handling of the Luis Suarez transfer saga.

Messi made an emotional post on Instagram after Suarez completed a move to La Liga rival Atletico Madrid:

Messi on Suarez's Barcelona exit 😳 pic.twitter.com/ZXkDGvrRft

— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 25, 2020

Neymar agreed with his former teammate's stance:

Neymar weighed in on Barcelona 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Xl0BtHPQqf

— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 25, 2020

It's been a busy transfer window for Barcelona as they reshape their roster following a rare trophyless campaign. Suarez, Arthur, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal and Nelson Semedo were among the high-profile departures following new manager Ronald Koeman's arrival.

Messi attempted to join the mass exodus from the Camp Nou earlier in the summer. The club refused to allow him to leave on a free transfer amid interest from other European giants, however, which led the six-time Ballon d'Or winner to confirm he would see out the final year of his contract with Barca.

"I thought and was sure that I was free to leave; the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I stayed or not," he told Goal's Ruben Uria on Sept. 4. "... Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million clause, and that this is impossible."

Neymar left the club in August 2017 to join French side Paris Saint-Germain.

Suarez said Thursday there was little option after Koeman informed the striker he wasn't going to feature in the club's rebuilt attack.

"When the club says it doesn't need you anymore, you have to accept it," he told reporters. "But it takes a while; it's difficult. Your family is involved. You've gone through a lot with the club. So it's difficult to accept that you are leaving, but you have to. It's the reality. It's how things are in soccer."

Barca are scheduled to open their La Liga campaign Sunday against Villarreal, and they will attempt to leave the offseason drama in the rearview mirror.

That said, Messi's discontent is palpable heading into what will likely be his final year with the Blaugrana.

Luis Suarez is officially a member of Atletico Madrid. 

Barcelona announced Wednesday that the star striker had been sold to their La Liga rivals, with Atletico paying the Catalan side "six million euros in variables."

💙❤️ #9raciasLuis pic.twitter.com/kahOzjGWjw

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 23, 2020

The club said in its statement, "FC Barcelona would like to publicly express their gratitude to Luis Suárez for his commitment and dedication and wishes him all the best for the future."

Suarez, 33, spent six seasons with Barcelona, winning four La Liga titles and one Champions League title in his time at the club. He scored 198 goals in 283 total appearances—only Lionel Messi (634) and Cesar (232) have scored more for the club—while adding 97 assists. 

Six years of incredible memories ❤️

Barcelona say goodbye to Luis Suarez 👋 pic.twitter.com/YNN5MtGCuj

— GOAL (@goal) September 23, 2020

His pairing with Messi has helped the Blaugrana boast one of the most fearsome front lines in football. While Antoine Griezmann never settled into life in that front three as seamlessly as Neymar had before his departure for PSG, Suarez's clinical finishing and underrated playmaking helped lead the line to consistent success. 

But with Barcelona clearly turning over the club in an effort to move on from its veteran core with an eye to the future—one would imagine this is Messi's final year at the club after this summer's row—Suarez was always one of the players likely to be sold off. 

Suarez is hardly dead weight at this point. While his 16 goals were his fewest since he debuted for the team in the 2014-15 season, he posted them in 22 starts and 28 total appearances, a clinical tally. A knee injury in January threatened his season, though the eventual delay due to COVID-19 allowed him to return during the summer's restart. 

With Atletico, he'll join an attacking force that already includes Diego Costa at striker. He's essentially replacing Alvaro Morata, who left on loan to Juventus.  

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez is reportedly "furious" after the club allegedly backed out of a verbal agreement to allow a free transfer after it emerged he was close to signing with La Liga rival Atletico Madrid. 

ESPN's Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens reported Tuesday that Suarez is "considering holding a news conference alongside his lawyers" if Barca don't clear the transfer.

The sides reportedly came to terms that would've allowed the Uruguay international to pay Barcelona a portion of his contract in exchange for a free transfer as long he didn't move to Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain.

Since Atletico wasn't on the list, Suarez's representatives worked to finalize a contract with Los Rojiblancos, and the club were prepared to announce a deal contingent on Alvaro Morata completing his loan to Juventus before Barca backed out, according to Marsden and Llorens.

It was noted that the Blaugrana don't want to help a direct rival improve for free, while Suarez doesn't understand the club's change of heart since new manager Ronald Koeman has suggested the veteran striker won't be a key part of his attack this season.

Suarez is hopeful for a resolution that allows the transfer before the window closes Oct. 5.

The 33-year-old former Liverpool standout remained productive with 21 goals in 36 appearances across all competitions for Barca last season. He's tallied 198 goals in 283 matches in six years with the Spanish club.

He's been one of the world's most prolific goalscorers across his 15-year career with Nacional, Groningen, Ajax, Liverpool and Barcelona, and he's still a big enough threat in the attacking third to become a valuable asset for Diego Simeone at the Wanda Metropolitano if the transfer is confirmed.

It sounds like Barca, who previously prevented Lionel Messi from leaving on a free transfer during the current window, may once again stand firm against allowing one of the other top clubs in Europe to benefit from adding one of its stars without a fee.

Barcelona reportedly had two bids for right-back Max Aarons rejected by Norwich City as they seek a replacement for Nelson Semedo.

ESPN's Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens reported on Saturday that Semedo is nearing an agreement with a Premier League side that could see him leave the Camp Nou within a week. In turn, Barca are amplifying their efforts to fill the potential void, though they face competition from Bayern Munich for Aarons.

Barcelona made an initial bid of around €20 million to take Aarons on loan for the 2020-21 season with the option to make it a full transfer next season, per ESPN. That proposal, along with a second, was rejected, but the La Liga club remains keen on the England under-21 international.

The Blaugrana are seeking more than €30 million to finalize a move involving Semedo, and they are planning to reinvest a sizable portion of that money to sign his replacement, according to ESPN. They are also interested in Ajax right-back Sergino Dest, a United States international.

Aarons broke into Norwich's first team from the club's youth academy in 2018. He's immediately become a stalwart along the back line, making 43 appearances across all competitions during the 2018-19 term and 40 more last season as the Canaries competed in the Premier League.

The 20-year-old was linked to Spurs during the winter transfer window, but he told reporters in January the speculation about his future wasn't a major focus:

"It is what happens when the window is open. That stuff is dealt with by the club and my agent. My agent just tells me and the manager just tells me to stick to my football and come in and work as hard as I can and play at the weekend.

"People say it, but it is generally true: I am just focused on my football turning up for each game and being 100 percent ready and working as hard as I can in training to improve. It is something I don't look at. But it is one of those things that happens when the window is open."

Aarons' representatives and Barcelona have already reached an agreement on personal terms, so there shouldn't be any hurdles if the clubs can come to terms on a transfer fee, per ESPN.

It's the latest transfer saga in a drama-filled offseason for Barca, highlighted by Lionel Messi's attempt to secure a move before announcing he would remain with the Spanish giants for the 2020-21 season.

Barcelona are set to open their La Liga campaign on Sept. 27 against Villarreal.

After seeking a transfer this summer, Lionel Messi has reportedly returned to Barcelona on Monday for training ahead of the 2020-21 season, according to Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens of ESPN. 

The superstar won't join his teammates right away because of La Liga's COVID-19 protocol, but the Argentine will train individually until he is cleared. The club has multiple friendlies before beginning its league season on Sept. 27 against Villarreal. 

Messi was initially hoping to leave Barcelona on a free transfer, but it would have required a dispute in court after disagreements over his opt-out date. 

"Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million (£624m/$823m) clause, and that this is impossible," he said in an interview with Ruben Uria of Goal.com.

Barcelona had also told the forward he could sit out the season if he wanted to leave for free.

The 33-year-old had a clause in his contract that allowed him to opt out by June 10, but he felt it should have been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic that altered the season schedule. La Liga sided with the team in the dispute.

Manchester City was reportedly confident in landing Messi if he had transferred, reuniting the forward with coach Pep Guardiola.

Though he had stayed away from Barcelona during the disagreement, he is now back in the fold and ready to help the team for the upcoming season.

Barca are coming off a disappointing season in which they finished second to Real Madrid for the La Liga title and suffered an 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals. The club is hoping to get back to its standard of winning trophies and keeping the six-time Ballon d'Or winner provides a significant boost.

Lionel Messi announced Friday he's decided to remain at Barcelona for the 2020-21 season after the club refused to allow a free transfer.

Messi told Ruben Uria of Goal that a disputed clause in his contract wouldn't have made it financially viable to complete a move to another club:

"I thought and was sure that I was free to leave, the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I stayed or not.

"Now they cling to the fact that I did not say it before June 10, when it turns out that on June 10 we were competing for La Liga in the middle of this awful coronavirus and this disease altered all the season.

"And this is the reason why I am going to continue in the club. Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million (£624m/$823m) clause, and that this is impossible."

Messi and Barcelona were locked in a dispute over a clause in his contract that allowed the player to leave the club for no transfer fee. Barcelona believed that clause had expired and was no longer valid, triggering a battle between the two sides, via Sid Lowe of The Guardian.

Messi reportedly attracted interest from several European giants, including Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Inter Milan, after speculation emerged about his future following the 2019-20 term.

The contract situation was always the most important factor, though. Even the richest of clubs would have struggled to pay a release clause to Barcelona in addition to the superstar forward's contract.

Messi told Uria he held an emotional conversation with his family about leaving the Spanish club before coming to the realization it wouldn't be possible during the current transfer window:

"When I communicated my wish to leave to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama. The whole family began crying, my children did not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools.

"But I looked further afield and I want to compete at the highest level, win titles, compete in the Champions League. You can win or lose in it, because it is very difficult, but you have to compete. At least compete for it and let us not fall apart in Rome, Liverpool, Lisbon. All that led me to think about that decision that I wanted to carry out."

Messi added he didn't want to push forward with a legal case against the Blaugrana—it's unlikely a trial could have been scheduled and conducted before the window closes Oct. 5 anyway—and decided to play out the final year of his deal, which runs through June 30, 2021.

"I love Barcelona and I'm not going to find a better place than here anywhere," he told Goal. "Still, I have the right to decide. I was going to look for new goals and new challenges. And tomorrow I could go back, because here in Barcelona I have everything."

It's great news for the 26-time La Liga champions, which maintained throughout the process they wanted to retain Messi as a foundational piece while restructuring the roster after a rare trophy-less campaign.

🔊 Ramon Planes: "We want to build a team around the most important player in the world" pic.twitter.com/0fDSpM83mE

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 26, 2020

Barca are set to open the preseason Sept. 12 against third-division side Gimnastic de Tarragona with their league slate scheduled to begin in late September.

Lionel Messi still reportedly wants out of Barcelona.

According to Rodrigo Faez and Moises Llorens of ESPN, "the face-to-face meeting between Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and Jorge Messi ended in a stalemate on Wednesday as Lionel Messi continues to look for a way out of the club, sources told ESPN."

Messi's father Jorge is also his representative. 

And so the stalemate continues. Messi believes he should be allowed to leave on a free transfer after informing Barcelona he wants to leave, exercising a clause in his contract. Essentially, every year Messi can leave on a free if he exercises that clause before the end of the season. He did not report for the team's preseason training. 

Barcelona has maintained that he had a fixed date to inform them (that date has varied between May 31 and June 10) and let them know after that date. The club reportedly is maintaining he cannot leave on a free and has a €700 million release clause that will need to be paid for him to depart. 

La Liga has sided with Barcelona on the matter, with a potential clash in the courts still on the table. 

Messi also after La Liga statement is not going to chance his mind. He wants to leave and to start a new chapter. Barcelona told him again they won’t let Leo go for free to Manchester City - and La Liga position is part of their strategy. The saga is on. 🚨🇦🇷 #Messi #FCB #MCFC

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 30, 2020

Messi can fight the 10th June clause (saying that the season ended 23 Agust and not 1st June as predicted before pandemic), seat down with Barcelona and negotiate an exit (which would start happening this week) or eventually can tore up the contract if no agreement.

— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) August 31, 2020

Reasons for Barto to insist on Messi staying. The coach wants him (when Koeman asked Barto, ‘do I have Messi’, president said, ‘yes’. Next day Jorge Messi rang Barto to tell him again that his son wants to go). Koeman has suggested that he’s make a strong team without Messi too

— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) August 31, 2020

My prediction, a risky thing to do with so many variables: we are in phase 1 where both show their cards from extreme positions. With the trip of Jorge Messi, we enter negotiating phase. Finally we would reach, I think, agreement even if Barcelona takes Messi to court

— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) August 31, 2020

The other option, of course, is that Barcelona could back off the €700 million release clause and negotiate a transfer fee with another club, likely Manchester City, for far less money. Faez and Llorens reported that "Man City are working on a deal for Messi and are working on one formula that would see him sign for the Premier League side before ending his career with partner club New York City FC in Major League Soccer."

In such a scenario Barcelona move on from a club legend without the terrible press of a long and protracted breakup, the sort of scenario other superstar players would surely monitor closely and consider before doing business with Barca. 

That seems the most likely outcome. Messi returning to Barcelona, at this point, seems incredibly unlikely. Even if Barcelona wins in the courts and stubbornly refuses to sell for anything less than the €700 million release clause, keeping an unhappy Messi—arguably the most influential figure at the club, and certainly the most visible and popular—is a recipe for an extremely dysfunctional year, only to lose him on a free in a year anyway. 

Messi's time with the Catalan club looks to be over. It's simply a matter of what Barcelona recoups in his sale, and where the greatest player in the history of the sport winds up. 

Jorge Messi, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi's father and agent, will reportedly meet with Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu on Wednesday to discuss the superstar's future.

ESPN's Moises Llorens and Alex Kirkland reported Tuesday the elder Messi is expected to demand his son be allowed to leave on a free transfer as part of a disputed clause in his contract, while Bartomeu is planning to propose a two-year extension through the 2022-23 season.

The most important factor in the potential blockbuster transfer is settling the contract debate.

Messi's camp believes he's eligible to move freely based on a clause that allowed him to inform the club of his intentions at season's end, which came later than usual this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Barcelona has stood firm that such a declaration needed to occur in June, per ESPN.

If Barca's stance prevails, it could be difficult for even the giants of Europe to build the type of financial offer necessary to pay the Blaugrana a transfer fee along with paying Messi's contract.

Barcelona's first team technical secretary, Ramon Planes, has made it clear the Spanish club want the six-time Ballon d'Or winner to stay at the club as it rebuilds following a rare trophy-less campaign:

🔊 Ramon Planes: "We want to build a team around the most important player in the world" pic.twitter.com/0fDSpM83mE

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 26, 2020

Manchester City are the favorites to land Messi if he moves during the current transfer window—which runs through Oct. 5—with Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan among the other high-profile clubs monitoring the situation, per James Whaling of the Daily Mirror.

Barcelona are "not optimistic" Messi will sign an extension with the club, but the situation remains unsettled since a "lengthy court case" would be needed to solve the debate over his current deal, according to Llorens and Kirkland.

CNN's Paul Gittings reported the Argentinian sensation didn't undergo COVID-19 testing with the club ahead of the preseason and will be ineligible to play unless he does.

It's a complex scenario with many variables involved. That amplifies the need for talks to settle it, with La Liga play set to begin Sept. 27 and just over a month until the transfer deadline.

After getting support from La Liga about Lionel Messi's contract terms, Barcelona believe the superstar would have to sit out the 2020-21 season in order to leave on a free transfer, according to Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens of ESPN.

Messi has a release clause in his contract that requires payment of €700 ($843.7 million) for him to leave Barcelona. 

Though the forward had a "termination clause" that allowed him to end his contract at the conclusion of each season, La Liga confirmed the deadline of June 26 had passed. Messi's side argues the deadline should be changed as the end of the season was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 33-year-old did not report for COVID-19 testing at the start of training camp for Barcelona Sunday, per Marsden and Llorens. His legal team has advised him not to take part in the preseason to continue the claim that his contract has already been terminated.

These disagreements could lead to the player's future being settled in court.

If he does leave Barcelona, Messi is reportedly likely to move to Manchester City, per ESPN. Sport (h/t Marca) reported the Premier League club would offer a contract worth €750 million ($895 million) over five years that would include three seasons at Manchester City and two in the MLS with NYCFC.

The start of the deal would create one of the top attacks in the world, with Messi playing alongside Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and others.

Manchester City led the Premier League with 102 goals last year and would be even better after adding a player who has six Ballon d'Or awards as the best player in the world. Messi remained productive in 2019-20 with 25 goals and 21 assists in La Liga.

However, it's unlikely he would be willing to sit out a year at his age, creating plenty of question marks about his future.