Messi’s transfer request leaves Spain shaken with Barcelona set to lose player who transcends sport

The news that Lionel Messi has asked to leave FC Barcelona sent shockwaves far beyond the world of football in Spain, a nation where he has been adopted as so much more than just a sublimely talented sportsman.

Messi, widely seen as the best footballer in the world but with an unassuming personality eschewing the trappings of stardom beloved by his biggest rival Ronaldo, has become a symbol of genius for many Spaniards – even those who do not support the club.

FC Barcelona’s motto is “more than a club”, but, equally, Messi’s might be “more than a player”.

Hundreds of fans staged a demonstration outside the Nou Camp, the club’s cavernous stadium, demanding the board resign in the hope this will persuade Messi to stay.

In television and radio news bulletins on Tuesday night, news of Messi’s departure received equal time to the Spanish government’s decision to send in the army to try to reverse the surge in coronavirus cases.

On Twitter an estimated 10 million tweets were sent about Messi in the hours after the 33-year-old Argentina player announced his career with Barca was over, and the story was carried on the front pages of almost all newspapers on Wednesday.

La Vanguardia, the Barcelona-based daily, divided its front page equally between the struggle to contain the pandemic and a huge photograph of Messi next to the headline: “Messi quits Barça using a fax” – a reference to the fact the player faxed the club to inform them of his decision.

For Spain’s sports media there was only one story. “Messi bomb: He wants to go”, was the splash headline in Mundo Deportivo, a paper based in the Catalan capital.

Meanwhile, Marca, the Real Madrid supporting Madrid-based daily, appeared to gloat with the headline “The bomb explodes: Messi wants to leave”.

Graham Hunter, a journalist and author of Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World, said: “The reason Messi has achieved international iconic status is because he is a byword for genius.

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“He has become a global phenomenon on the scale of Michael Jordan, Nadia Comaneci and Tiger Woods. He is by far the greatest footballer that has ever played, ahead of Maradona and Pele.”

Messi, who has played for FC Barcelona for 20 years, asked to leave the club after a series of bad results which culminated in the team’s humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on 14 August.

As pundits linked the player with a series of other clubs, including Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, fans were left reflecting on the good times.

“It is the shame this is the possible end for such a great player,” said Xavi Cervera, a fan.

Messi’s lawyers informed Barcelona that the Argentine wanted to take up a release clause in his contract that could allow him to leave for nothing.

Barcelona, who are trying to persuade Messi to stay, insist the release clause has expired and the six-time Ballon d’Or winner can only leave if a rival club will pay his €700 million buyout clause.

Unlike his compatriot Maradona, Messi has always remained a star who did not let all the trophies and acclaim go to his head.

He lives with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo and their three children in Castelldefels outside Barcelona like many other Barça footballers.

The couple have remained within the tight-nit Argentine community in this suburb of the Catalan capital, frequenting local steak houses which offer them a taste of home.

The player invested in the Bellavista del Jardín del Norte, an upmarket restaurant in Barcelona where they served Messi wine, but this later closed.

His story with FC Barcelona famously began all those years ago in rather more modest fashion – with a contract signed on a serviette passed between the club’s then bosses and Messi’s father.