Lionel Messi is reportedly now being eyed by Chelsea with Blues owner Roman Abramovich said to have ‘requested an urgent meeting’ with his representatives.

On Thursday night, Barcelona announced that Messi, 34, will leave the club after 21 years, failing to renew his contract due to financial regulations in Spain.

It means Messi is a free agent, with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain the obvious suitors.

Both owned by Middle Eastern states, the two clubs can both offer Messi trophies and familiar faces.

However, PSG may not be able to meet his wage demands and City have just spent £100million on Jack Grealish, while also in pursuit of Harry Kane.

According to AS in Spain, Russian billionaire Abramovich has ‘set his eyes’ on Messi and ‘requested an urgent meeting’ with his team.

It is known that the Blues are strongly in the market for a new attacker with Erling Haaland a major target at the start of the summer.

As Haaland is set to stay put at Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea are now understood to have switched focus to Inter’s Romelu Lukaku.

However, the surprise news about Messi’s sudden availability is said to have opened up another option.

The report claims that Chelsea are continuing negotiations for Lukaku while exploring the possibility of signing Messi.

PSG are thought to be the front-runners, but other reports have suggested a move to France is ‘almost impossible’ due to high taxes and the club’s need to reduce their wage bill.

It has been speculated that Messi may prefer a move to City, who just broke the British transfer record to sign Grealish, where the legendary forward could link up with former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.