No agreement in meeting between Barcelona and Messi’s father

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Photo credit People walk past a poster with the image of Barcelona soccer player Lionel Messi at a F.C. Barcelona store in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. Barcelona is banking on a face-to-face meeting with Lionel Messi to try to convince him to stay. Talks with Messi’s father-agent are expected this week in Barcelona but the club also hopes to sit down with the player himself. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

The first meeting between Lionel Messi's father and Barcelona officials on Wednesday ended without an agreement on the player's future, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The person said club president Josep Bartomeu met for about 90 minutes with Jorge Messi to discuss the the Argentina star's request to leave the club, but that neither part made any concessions.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the private meeting.

Lionel Messi last week told Barcelona he wanted to leave the club and invoked a contract clause that allowed him to depart for free at the end of the season. But Barcelona claimed the clause expired in June and said he must see out his contract until June 2021, unless another club pays his buyout clause of 700 million euros ($837 million).

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