Lionel Messi free to leave Barcelona at the end of the season

It's been 19 years that the Argentine football legend, Lionel Messi, has been an integral part of FC Barcelona. He is one of those rare players to be considered as a one-club man. However, things can change pretty quick, thanks to a clause in his Camp Nou contract. The clause gives Messi the freedom to choose the time when he wishes to leave the Barca camp. The clause makes it easy for the modern-day football maestro to walk away from Camp Nou anytime before his contract expires in the year 2021.

In 2017, Messi signed a 4-year extended contract with his club Barcelona, which ensured that the Argentine megastar's release clause would be 700 Million Euros. The amount in itself is a humongous one since not many clubs are willing to pay so much for any player who is at the later stage of his career. However, it was almost certain that Messi wasn't looking for any other opportunity as he is very happy to end his club football career with the same team that took him to the centre stage of the European football arena.

However, as per the reports published in 90min, Messi's latest contract has another clause that allows the legend to walk away from the club at the end of any season based on his terms. This potentially means that at the end of any season, Messi can choose to leave the Catalans for any other club on a free transfer.

This condition is applicable only when the Argentine chooses to play for any "non-elite club." So, for this free transfer to happen, Messi might choose to follow the footsteps of Andres Iniesta and Xavi, who had left Barcelona to pursue their remaining football careers in Japan and Qatar, respectively. However, there are no such reports to claim that Messi is going to make such a move.

Messi made his Barcelona senior debut in 2004, since then, he has appeared in 687 games and scored 603 goals along with 242 assists. He has been a key playmaker for Barca for years now. As of now, Messi is suffering from injuries, which is restricting him from making any competitive appearances so far this season. Barcelona currently ranks 8th in the La Liga table. Both, the team's management and fans are hoping for their megastar's quick return to the football pitch.