Lionel Messi has a contract binding him to Barcelona until the end of June 2021, his buyout clause amounts to a staggering figure of €700million, and the Catalans are currently devising a deal that would extend his stay for a further 12 months. If they make it happen, it would be his ninth extension since signing his first professional contract in 2005.
Nonetheless, a report by Mundo Deportivo claims there is a ‘special clause’ inserted in his contract, allowing him to leave as a free agent in the summer of 2020. However, the clause is only valid for clubs not falling into the category of ‘elite clubs’.
The transfer market certainly changed on the day the Catalan club lost the services of Neymar due to Paris Saint-Germain’s bid of €222million activating the Brazilian’s buyout clause, but it’s still hardly unlikely any club would go and spend €700million on one player, even if that player is a five-times Ballon d’Or winner and arguably the best the world has seen in recent times.
It’s equally difficult to imagine Messi leaving Barcelona in 2020 to join a non-elite club, unless it is to return to his homeland of Argentina.
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