Lionel Messi reportedly has a clause in his Barcelona contract that allows him to leave the Catalan club if he wants to at the end of each season.

Messi has signed eight contract renewals at Barcelona since 2005, and this clause was added in his most recent renewal in 2017.

This is all according to El Pais, who say that there is an agreement between the player and club that means Messi can decide whether he wants to leave on June 30 at the end of each season.

The agreement is based on Messi’s loyalty to Barcelona and if the Argentine decides to take up this agreement, then he is free to leave the Camp Nou.

According to Carrusel, Messi can only exercise this option if he is leaving Barcelona for a club outside Europe, leaving us to believe that this clause is designed for him to return to Argentina whenever he wants.