Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona?

Citing unnamed sources, Spanish newspaper Marca reported that Messi has turned down the offer to renew his contract with Spanish football champions FC Barcelona in July. Messi’s current deal expires in 2018, and he’ll consider all of his options until then, it further reported. 

As per the report in Marca, Messi’s conviction on tax fraud charges has prompted him to think about playing in another country. If that is indeed the case, World soccer’s leading clubs (and those with plenty of money) could do whatever it takes over the next 18 months to sign one of the sport’s all-time greats.

But after this report emerged, a Spanish daily ‘Sport’ has challenged Marca’s report by stating that Marca is weaving such false stories after Barcelona shunned an invitation to attend their function last Tuesday, Argentinian newspaper ‘Ole’ also have challenged the report by stating that Messi's father, Jorge, is set to travel to Barcelona next month to discuss contract renewal for his son, reported ESPN. 

The Sport reported that Messi doesn’t have any issue with the Catalan club and cited some club sources confirming that officials want to renew the contracts of all other key players before the end of the year so that they can offer Messi a long-term deal in January.

After becoming a member of Barcelona FC at the age of 12, Messi broke into the main team at the age of 17. Messi is the club's all-time leading scorer and celebrated his 500th goal for Barca in a 2-1 win at Sevilla on November 6.

Meanwhile, Messi is currently traveling with his national team Argentina as they prepare to take on Colombia on Tuesday in a bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.