"Due to economic and structural obstacles" in LaLiga regulations, Messi will depart less than a month after making a verbal agreement on a 5-year deal, the club said in a statement.
The Argentina national soccer team dealt a crushing blow to Brazil in the Copa América finals, winning 1-0. Team captain Lionel Messi had long wanted to bring his team to victory.
Months after a boy in rural Afghanistan became a sensation for wearing a homemade Lionel Messi jersey, he's now met the soccer star and watched his FC Barcelona team play.
But fans hope Messi will rethink his declaration of "I think it's over" once the wave of postgame frustration at Argentina's 4-2 loss to Chile in Sunday's Copa America final has passed.
Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi became a sensation when a photo of him wearing a Lionel Messi jersey made from a plastic bag went viral. Now his father says the family received threatening phone calls.
The boy's obvious glee at wearing a plastic-bag shirt bearing the number 10 won him many fans. Soccer superstar Lionel Messi was evidently one of them.
For the fifth time in seven years, Barcelona and Argentine national team striker Messi has been named the best player in the world. He beat Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazil's Neymar.
The Spanish soccer club giant beat Italian side Juventus in June to earn the title of best team in Europe. Wednesday, Barcelona and Roma tied 1-1 in their first game of this year's tournament.
