Lionel Messi is desperate to get out of Barcelona. His hope of leaving on a free transfer is looking more and more like fantasy after LaLiga’s latest statement ruling his contract is still valid and a club will have to pay $833 million to trigger his release clause.
LaLiga on Sunday released a statement saying Lionel Messi's Barcelona contract was still valid, days after his shock announcement that he wants to leave the club and hours after he failed to attend a pre-season medical.
Messi's failure to show for his medical underlined the 33-year-old's determination to leave the club he has been with throughout his career.
MADRID — Lionel Messi will not take a planned preseason coronavirus test on Sunday or return to training on Monday after his shock announcement earlier this week that he wants to leave Barcelona, Spanish media reported on Saturday.
Spanish sports paper Marca said Messi was "going to war" with his lifelong club by making the decision.
La Vanguardia reported Messi will send another burofax, the method by which he told the club he wanted to leave, to inform them of his decision not to join his teammates for the first training session under new coach Ronald Koeman.
With all of the attention surrounding Lionel Messi's future, you may have missed that Irish fullback Matt Doherty is likely on his way to Tottenham after more than a decade with Wolverhampton Wanderers, with a fee reportedly in the range of $18-21 million.
Ordinarily, a transfer like this would not raise too many eyebrows, but it could have a massive impact on one Irish club.
BARCELONA — Captain Lionel Messi has told Barcelona he wishes to leave the club immediately, a source confirmed on Tuesday, deepening the turmoil within the Catalan side less than two weeks after their humiliating 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich. But can anyone afford the Lionel Messi buyout clause?
The club source said Messi, who has spent his entire career at Barca, informed the club about his desire to leave by sending a burofax, a service used in Spain to urgently dispatch a document that requires proof to third parties.
Despite Luis Suárez’s desperate plea to remain at Barcelona — going so far as to tell El Pais that he’d happily accept a substitute's role — new manager Ronald Koeman has reportedly told the 33-year-old that he has no future at the club.
COLOGNE — Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui enjoyed sweet redemption after his side beat Inter Milan 3-2 in a thrilling Europa League final on Friday to hand the Spaniard a first major trophy.
A highly-rated coach in Spain's youth set-up, Lopetegui landed a first job in elite club coaching when he took over at Portuguese giants Porto in 2014 but was sacked 18 months later after failing to win a trophy.
Diego Carlos was having a nightmare of a match for Sevilla in the Europa League final against Inter Milan. The Sevilla center back was fortunate to avoid a red card in the opening minutes when he conceded a penalty to give Inter an early lead. He struggled all night to contain Romelu Lukaku.
But in the unlikeliest of scenarios, it was Diego Carlos, the Brazilian center back, who provided a dramatic bicycle kick that caromed off Lukaku for a late winner as Sevilla rallied for a 3-2 win on Friday in Cologne, Germany.
Real Madrid’s latest LaLiga title isn’t feeling as special anymore. At least that’s how Toni Kroos is feeling after watching the horror show of Bayern Munich tearing Barcelona limb from limb in the now infamous 8-2 Champions League beatdown.
Kroos messaged fellow German and Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich on WhatsApp saying that the LaLiga title doesn’t feel the same anymore.
BARCELONA — New Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman is expected to oversee a massive overhaul of the squad as he leads them into a new era after their weaknesses were exposed in the 8-2 thrashing by Bayern Munich, president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said.
Koeman, one of Barca's greatest ever players who was confirmed as the club's new coach on Wednesday, will oversee the transition alongside Ramon Planes, the new chief technical secretary after Eric Abidal left the club.