Topics: La Liga, Barcelona, Joan Laporta, Lionel Messi
The Argentine ace will be forced to seek for pastures new after contract talks between him and the club fell apart in the past 24 hours.

In what has resulted into a roller-coaster of emotions, Lionel Messi's path with Barcelona has officially come to an end to day.

In a press release issued earlier today, the club revealed that they will not be able to re-sign their all-time top scorer due to their complicated financial situation.

Negotiations to extend Messi's deal at Camp Nou had gone on since Joan Laporta took over as president, but the player's father and the footballer himself kept coming back with different demands. The latest of them involved the signing of defender Cristian Romero, who won the 2021 Copa América with Messi less than a month ago. Unable to fulfill this demand and having to operate under a low budget, the club had no choice but to put an end to all negotiations and let the footballer leave the club for good.

"Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations).

As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.

FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life," the press release states.

The footballer reportedly arrived to Barcelona yesterday to stay in touch with his father, Jorge Messi, who was negotiating terms of the deal. Unfortunately, Messi's entourage was not able to understand certain clauses included in the new deal, and Barcelona's board realized that there would be no agreement, which caused them to end all dealings, according to reports by Marca and Mundo Deportivo.

Other sources believe that Barcelona and Messi himself agreed to announce this decision to try and twist La Liga's arm in regards to their financial rules, which include a salary cap for all clubs. Even so, most fans have to be shocked by this announcement, especially after listening to president Joan Laporta being optimistic about Messi's future for quite a few weeks.

Messi made his professional debut with Los Blaugranas in 2005 and won it all with the Catalan club. Ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey crowns, three UEFA Champions League titles, and many more accolades. The road to replace the greatest player in club history has begun, and Messi will be forced to continue playing somewhere else.