Legendary Juventus and Italy forward Alessandro Del Piero is ‘shocked’ by Lionel Messi’s Barcelona exit, saying he expected him to end his career at the Laliga giants.

Barcelona announced on Thursday that Messi would no longer be part of the team. 

The Argentinean’s contract expired on June 30 and although the two parties seemed to have an agreement in place, Barcelona announced they could not tie Messi down to a new contract ‘because of financial and structural obstacles.’

PSG and Manchester City seem to be the only clubs that can afford the Argentine and Del Piero is shocked that Messi has left.

“We all wanted to see him end his career at Barcelona, so I am a little shocked,” Del Piero told Sky Sport Italia.

“He was supposed to begin the season with the Barcelona shirt, he had sent positive messages, everything seemed to go well.

“He will start a new adventure now, something different. I don’t want to judge him, our world is a particular one. It can be his fault or a shared decision. Maybe it can be the best thing for both, we can’t say anything.

“If you ask me, the thing you would have wanted is to see him end his career at Barcelona.”

Del Piero spent almost his entire career at Juventus, becoming the player with the most appearances and the best scorer in the club’s history.

He left Turin in 2012 and played two more seasons with Sydney FC and one with Delhi Dynamos.

He won the World Cup with Italy in 2006 and 16 trophies with Juventus, including one Champions League in 1996.