Barcelona won’t sell Manchester City target Lionel Messi for below £630m release clause

The meeting between Lionel Messi‘s father Jorge and Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu ended without an agreement on Wednesday night and the Manchester City target will remain on strike.

The meeting lasted for one and a half hours but Bartomeu remains determined to not let Messi go without a huge transfer fee and Messi’s father remains adamant that his son is a free agent.

Diario Sport reported that Bartomeu attended the meeting with director Javier Bordas and Messi was accompanied by son Rodrigo and lawyer Jorge Pecourt. 

Jorge Messi met with Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu for talks about his son’s future

Bartomeu’s car circled Jorge’s flat earlier but the Barcelona chief was nowhere to be seen

Lionel Messi is determined to leave after growing increasingly frustrated with the club

With no softening in the position of either parties Messi will not return to training under new coach Ronald Koeman, underlining his emphatic insistence that he is no longer a Barcelona player after sending the club a burofax last week.

Jorge had earlier been pictured getting out of a taxi having jetted in on Wednesday morning for the crunch talks.  

His son is continuing to boycott pre-season training with his team-mates in a bid to force through a departure while Catalan side insist he cannot walk away and has a £630m release clause.

The importance of the meeting could not be overstated with either a smooth resolution in which Messi plays out the final years of his career at the Nou Camp, or exits with much legal wrangling in an ugly public dispute.  

Manchester City remains the most likely destination but there is still some way to go before that move materialises, with Jorge saying: ‘I don’t know, there’s nothing yet’, when quizzed about his son’s future. 

Bartomeu insists that Messi cannot leave the club for nothing and has a £630million clause

Messi’s father was mobbed as he landed at Barcelona-El Prat airport ahead of the talks

The face-to-face talks with Bartomeu are the first between both parties since Messi sent a burofax to the club, informing them he wants to leave this summer after spending the majority of his lifetime at the club having joined back in 2001. 

Even if, as seems inevitable, the divorce is acrimonious, many want Messi to remain part of the club even after he retires. 

Presidential candidate Victor Font told talkSPORT: ‘I’m truly hoping reason prevails and as soon as the club and Messi’s father sit down and talk, that the interest of both Messi and Barca will be taken into account and properly protected. 

Ronald Koeman’s side have been training without Messi, who is boycotting the sessions

Pep Guardiola will be following the situation with Manchester City a possible destination

‘Even if that’s the case [Messi leaving], the ties between Messi and Barcelona are very deep; he came to the city 20 years ago, he’s been playing for this club all his life. Messi is Barcelona, Barcelona is Messi, and what we need to ensure is that even if he leaves now these ties between Messi and Barcelona prevail,’ he added.

The fans are understandably furious at how the situation has unravelled with their favourite son pushing to leave. 

And they were even more incensed with the forward’s image being used to promote the kits for the new season, one he may never wear competitively. 

The other Barcelona players recognise what a chaotic situation it has become with Messi still in the team Whatsapp group and Frenkie de Jong admitting to NOS: ‘Currently it’s a mess at Barcelona, so many strange things happening. It’s chaos.

Barcelona annoyed fans by using Messi’s (centre, front) image to promote their new home kit

‘I haven’t talked to him (Messi) about this myself. Nor the club. So I honestly do not know how it is.

‘But if Messi really leaves, it will be a huge blow to the team and the club.’ 

Jorge met with Bartomeu to convey his son’s interests, which those close to the Messi camp insist is a strong will to cut ties. 

Club legends Carlos Puyol, Xavi and Andres Iniesta were all given the opportunity to depart on their own terms. 

Bartomeu himself even said last year that Messi could leave this summer. 

The footballing world is following every detail of the saga and those at the Etihad are no doubt taking a keener interest than anyone.