Messi ignores mandatory coronavirus testing with FC Barcelona

Another sign that the Lionel Messi’s time at Barcelona is coming to an end, he the player did not show up for coronavirus tests compulsory planned for the whole team on Sunday.

Barcelona say Messi is the only player not to have been tested in the club’s training center. The team must resume training on Monday before the next start of the season.

The club also reiterated its position as do not negotiate the early release of Messi

, saying that President Josep Bartomeu He will only sit down with the player if he wants to extend his contract beyond next season.

Messi expressed his desire to leave the club last week, but Barcelona want him to fulfill the contract which ends in June 2021. The club have also said they are not negotiating a possible transfer with another team.

Messi announced his decision to leave on Tuesday by sending the club a burofax, a certified document similar to a telegram. He invoked a contract clause which allowed him to leave for free at the end of the season, but the club claim the clause has already expired. A legal battle is expected to unfold like Messi will claim that the season has been extended beyond the clause expiration date

due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Argentine tall have reportedly said they want to negotiate with the club, but Barcelona said on Saturday they were unwilling to facilitate his departure. The club said they would like Messi to end his career with the Catalan club.

Suárez is a longtime teammate and friend of Messi, and the decision to drop the Uruguayan forward is said to have upset Messi and played a role in his decision to leave.

There were rumors earlier in the week that Messi reportedly appears at Sunday tests to avoid breaking the team’s rules when negotiating his exit, but his team told the club on Saturday that they did not intend to attend practice.

Messi, 33, had been candid about the club’s poor decisions this season, the first without a trophy since 2007-08.