Lionel Messi’s era at FC Barcelona has come to an end. The 34-year-old football superstar from Argentina was unable to sign a new contract with the Spanish top club due to financial and structural obstacles in the statutes of the Spanish league, as the Catalans announced on Thursday.
“Even if FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi have reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties was to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen due to financial and structural obstacles (Spanish League rules),” the statement said. “Both sides deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club are ultimately not fulfilled.”
The association did not initially provide details of why it was not possible to continue the collaboration. Most recently, too, everything had indicated a further collaboration. It was said that Messi had agreed on a new five-year contract with FC Barcelona. Messi would even have been willing to forego 50 percent of his old salary to help the economically troubled club.
In addition to a total of 35 titles with FC Barcelona, Messi was the top scorer with 672 goals in the club’s 121-year history. He played 778 games for FC Barcelona, which brought him from Rosario in Argentina in 2000 as a 13-year-old.
