Is Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona?

Messi fuels debate over his future with Barca after he misses training session, follows Chelsea on Insta.

Lionel Messi, Messi, Barcelona, Barca, Chelsea, Football

Spanish newspapers splashed Messi and Enrique’s pictures on their front pages, highlighting the Argentine’s apparent discontent. (Source: AP)

Lionel Messi fuelled speculation that he is unhappy at Barcelona after he missed an open training session on Monday and began following Chelsea’s official account on social networking website Instagram. The forward was left out of Barca’s starting line-up for the shock 1-0 defeat to David Moyes’ Real Sociedad on Sunday and did not appear at the training session, held in front of thousands of children, the following day. He later began following Chelsea’s account on the picture sharing website, as well as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defender Filipe Luis.

Last November, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had to deny claims that he was interested in signing Messi. However, the Argentine’s latest movements come with reports that he has fallen out with head coach Luis Enrique.

It is not the first time Messi has responded to being left out of the team by skipping team training sessions. In 2011, he reacted the same way after Pep Guardiola left him out of a match at Real Sociedad. But the Argentine’s absence on Monday had greater repercussions. As many as 11,000 fans, mostly children, had bought tickets in advance to watch the team train, and he subsequently missed the team’s visit to children’s hospitals in Barcelona. An apology quickly appeared on Messi’s Facebook page, but his activity on Instagram later that day attracted far more attention.

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Spanish newspapers splashed Messi and Enrique’s pictures on their front pages, highlighting the Argentine’s apparent discontent. In his first session on January 2, following an extended Christmas break, Messi had an angry exchange with Enrique during a five-a-side game which the coach was officiating, with the Argentinian disagreeing with a decision.

The tension appeared to only be heightened by the defeat to Real Sociedad, with newspaper Mundo Deportivo reporting an angry exchange of words between the coach and Messi, who reportedly also insulted the club’s psychologist Joaquín Valdes.

The Argentinian is far from the only player dissatisfied with the coach, who has been constantly altering the team’s formation and line-ups this season. Although Enrique’s team have set records for their tight defence, they have come up short in the big games, outplayed at Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in October.

The incident capped a weekend of turmoil at the Nou Camp after the Catalan club announced the sacking of director of football Andoni Zubizarreta and his assistant, Carles Puyol, quit.

High price

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The only three clubs that would be able to afford Messi are Chelsea, Manchester City and PSG. But any move for the four-time Ballon d’Or winner is near impossible before 2016, as the transfer ban prevents Barcelona from buying any players to replace him until then.

Messi’s discontentment against the club officials has become more obvious of late. In December 2013, Messi, who rarely reveals anything of note in interviews, launched a scathing attack on Barca’s vice-president of economic affairs Javier Faus, who had previously spoken against offering Messi a new contract six months after his last deal. Messi responded by calling Faus “someone who knows nothing about football.”

Six months later, Messi was given a new contract, but tellingly, his buy-out clause remained at 250million euros. Despite the new deal, Messi continued to drop hints all was not well. Before the World Cup he said: “Barcelona is my home, but if they don’t want me or doubt me, I’d have no problem in leaving.” He caused similar unease at the club last November by telling an Argentinian newspaper: “Although I have said I’d like to stay at Barcelona for ever, things don’t always turn out how you want them to.”