Lionel Messi did not attend a pre-season medical with Barcelona Sunday, a Barca club source confirmed, following his shock announcement on Tuesday that he sought to leave the club.
Reuters footage showed players arriving for coronavirus tests Sunday morning and Messi did not appear. He had been due at Barcelona's training ground at 10:15 a.m. local time.
Players had been given staggered appointments throughout the morning until midday. Media reports on Saturday said Argentine Messi would not undergo a pre-season medical or attend training Monday.
The 33-year-old six-time world player of the year informed his lifelong club on Tuesday he wished to leave immediately, plunging Barca into new turmoil less than two weeks after their humiliating 8-2 Champions League quarterfinal defeat by Bayern Munich.
Messi's lawyers plan to invoke a clause in his four-year contract, signed in 2017, which would have allowed the forward to leave the club for free if he had requested it by June 10.
They will argue that that date, nominally the end of the season, is now irrelevant after the coronavirus delays that led to the season’s extension and the team playing deep into August.
Under the terms of the contract which expires in 2021, the only way Messi can leave without the club’s consent is if another club pays his release clause of 700 million euros ($833 million).
