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<\/span><\/span>Manchester City, Paris St-Germain – this is not a drill. One of the world’s greatest players is now officially a free agent.<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, 12 months on from his aborted attempted to leave Barcelona, Lionel Messi is now out of contract.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Argentine superstar’s deal expired at midnight and despite months of rumour and conjecture, he has failed to commit to an extension.<\/span><\/p>\n Talks over a new contract are believed to be ongoing, meaning Messi may well decide to stay at the Nou Camp. <\/span><\/p>\n But, for now, he is available for absolutely nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n Spanish football writer Guillem Balague said earlier this week that Barcelona had <\/span>“raised the level of urgency”<\/span><\/a> in contract talks, with the hopes of making an announcement of a new two-year deal before the start of July.<\/span><\/p>\n The club started negotiations in April and since then they have met or spoken to Messi’s representatives at least 10 times.<\/span><\/p>\n “Barcelona are pushing for a quick solution but there are still things to negotiate and no news is expected on Thursday.” said Balague.<\/span><\/p>\n “They want him to sign as soon as possible, but the timings will be dictated by the resolution of all the details that have not yet been agreed – such as tax issues, Messi’s wages and fitting the new contract within La Liga’s financial fair play rules – to keep the Argentine, the club will have to reduce their wage bill by around 200m euros (\u00a3172m).<\/span><\/p>\n “There is synergy between both parties and Messi has not listened to any other club yet.”<\/span><\/p>\n The 34-year-old has been linked with moves to Paris St-Germain and Manchester City, where he would be reunited with his former boss at Barcelona Pep Guardiola, as well as America’s Major League Soccer.<\/span><\/p>\n He is currently in Brazil playing for Argentina at the Copa America and became their most-capped player when he made his 148th international appearance against Bolivia on Tuesday, scoring twice and setting up another <\/span>in a 4-1 win.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n 25 August 2020<\/strong> – Messi sends a fax to the club saying he wishes to <\/span>exercise a clause in his contract<\/span><\/a>, allowing him to leave for free with immediate effect. <\/span><\/p>\n 4 September 2020<\/strong> – <\/span>Messi says he is staying at Barcelona<\/span><\/a> because it is “impossible” for any team to pay his 700m euro (\u00a3624m) release clause, which the club insist would have to be met.<\/span><\/p>\n 27 October 2020<\/strong> – Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who had fallen out with Messi over his failed transfer request, <\/span>resigns.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n 28 December 2020<\/strong> – Messi says he hopes <\/span>to one day play in the United States<\/span><\/a>, but is unsure of his future when his contract runs out.<\/span><\/p>\n 31 January 2021<\/strong> – Barcelona say they will take “appropriate legal action” against Spanish newspaper El Mundo after it <\/span>published details of Messi’s contract<\/span><\/a>, worth \u00a3492m over four years. <\/span><\/p>\n 16 May 2021<\/strong> – Manager Ronald Koeman says he hopes Messi has not played his final home game for the club after a <\/span>2-1 defeat by Celta Vigo<\/span><\/a> ended their title hopes and meant they finished outside the top two for the first time since 2007-08.<\/span><\/p>\n 22 May 2021<\/strong> – Paris St-Germain are believed to be <\/span> “looking closely” at Messi’s contract<\/span><\/a> situation.<\/span><\/p>\n 28 May 2021<\/strong> – Barcelona president Joan Laporta says a new contract for Lionel Messi is <\/span>“not done yet”<\/span><\/a> but that “things are going well”.<\/span><\/p>\nWhere will Messi play next season?<\/h3>\n
Lionel Messi’s transfer timeline<\/h3>\n