The Argentine publicly declared his intention to leave the Spanish giants in the summer, but the Catalan club's board refused to let him leave unless his £630m release clause was activated.
However, with his contract up in the summer of 2021, the Barca hierarchy will be powerless in preventing their talisman leaving this time around.
Manchester City are still actively looking to sign Messi after failing in their attempts to bring him to the Etihad in the summer.
