Reports emerged on Wednesday that star player Lionel Messi had informed FC Barcelona that he wishes to end his stay with the club this summer.
The claims by ESPN follow a massive defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals - among the worst in the club's history, which resulted in the sacking of coach Quique Setien.
As Messi mulls his options for the near future, here's a look back at some of the achievements that justified his 'best player in the world' tag.
The highest scorer for his two teams: Argenta, Barcelona, and in LaLiga tournament
Despite being arguably the best player on earth, it's not just his ability to drive the team forward that makes Messi such a legend on the field but his goalscoring prowess as well.
Messi currently leads in total goals scored in La Liga's history by a massive margin, with 444 goals in 485 games. This puts him way ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo who is Real Madrid's lead scorer with 311 goals in 292 games.
In December 2019, he also scored his 35th hat-trick in La Liga, again beating Ronaldo.
Playing for Barcelona, Messi has accumulated 634 goals in 669 matches, which is a whopping 400 goals more than Cesar Rodriguez in second place.
Messi is also the highest scorer for Argentina. Since 2005 he has scored 70 goals in 138 games for La Albiceleste.
20+ - Lionel Messi is the only player to score 20+ goals in 12 consecutive @LaLigaEN seasons:
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) June 13, 2020
✅23 - 08/09
✅34 - 09/10
✅31 - 10/11
✅50 - 11/12
✅46 - 12/13
✅28 - 13/14
✅43 - 14/15
✅26 - 15/16
✅37 - 16/17
✅34 - 17/18
✅36 - 18/19
✅20 - 19/20
Stellar. pic.twitter.com/WREVUTcgc9
Six-times winner of Ballon d'Or
The Barcelona forward Lionel Messi bagged the Ballon d'Or award (world's best male player trophy) six times - a record. It followed his achievement of 54 goals for his club and home country in 2018-19.
This puts him ahead of Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the award five times.
Three-times Fifa Club World Cup winner
Playing for FC Barcelona and securing the World Player of the Year title in 2009, 2011, and 2015, Messi holds three separate club world cups - the first player ever to do so.
Lionel Messi for Barcelona:
— Leo Messi (@parshurampdl1) August 26, 2020
Games: 731
Goals: 634
Assists: 285
La Liga 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Copa del Rey 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Champions League 🏆🏆🏆🏆
Club World Cup 🏆🏆🏆
🇪🇺Super Cup 🏆🏆🏆
🇪🇸Super Cup 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Ballon d'Or: 6
Golden Shoe: 6
UCL Top scorer: 6#Messi pic.twitter.com/HRmoMyUHvm
Youngest Argentine to score in the World Cup
At just 18 years old in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the young Messi managed to score a goal against Serbia-Montenegro - his first for the national Argentinian team.
Argentina won 6-0 and advanced as group winners before being eliminated at the quarter-final stage by the tournament's hosts in a penalty shoot-out.
13 years ago, 16th of June 2006, an 18 year old Lionel Messi came on in the 74th Minute and marked his World Cup debut with a goal and an assist.
— Brother Mouzone (@SIippnJimmy) September 7, 2019
Lionel Messi vs Serbia (Germany 2006 WC) pic.twitter.com/5yGD3xJs9D
Highest-paid athlete in the world
Last year, Messi topped the Forbes' annual list as the world's highest paid soccer player with a $127 million salary, edging Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo who made $109 million the same year.
In 2020, however, his $104 million was surpassed by Ronaldo ($105 million), with tennis-star Roger Federer coming out on top with $106 million.
Highest-paid athletes 2019 via @Forbes:
— Kurt Badenhausen (@kbadenhausen) June 11, 2019
1. Messi $127M
2. Ronaldo $109M
3. Neymar $105M
4. Canelo $94M
5. Federer $93M
https://t.co/uCcGdmo2yu pic.twitter.com/4kstUGEyvF
