Unhappy Lionel Messi has missed Barcelona's first training session of the new season, days after his shock announcement that he wants to leave the only club he has played for professionally.
Messi's failure to show up for the session - the first under new Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman - was widely expected, after the 33-year-old Argentinian also failed to show up for a pre-season medical a day earlier.
Reuters television footage showed players arriving for the session and Messi did not appear.
The six-time World Player of the Year insists he has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave on a free transfer, a claim disputed by Barcelona and La Liga.
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 date - nominally the end of the season - is now irrelevant after the coronavirus pandemic forced an extension of the La Liga season deep into August.
But La Liga says a club can only sign Messi if they trigger a release clause of 700 million euros.
[Source: Newshub]
