Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu expected to resign after Messi’s request to leave

A last throw of the dice from Barcelona

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu is expected to bow to pressure from fans and the board and resign from his position at the top of the club. Lionel Messi informed the board he wanted to leave the club on Tuesday afternoon, citing a clause in his contract that would allow him to walk away for free. The club claim the clause expired in June, and a meeting will be held in the coming days to thrash out the details. Frustrated with the board's mismanagement over the past few years which has led to this situation, accelerated by the 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barcelona fans gathered outside the Camp Nou on Tuesday evening calling for Bartomeu to resign. Under such immense pressure to resolve the scenario and keep Messi at the club, it is being reported by Argentine media outlet TyC Sport that Bartomeu will now resign from his position. https://twitter.com/totalBarca/status/1298360246491021313 It is widely understood that Messi's biggest grievance with the club's management has been Bartomeu's management and this could lead to Messi reversing his position and staying at Barcelona for the final year of his contract. However, it has also been reported today that new Barça boss Ronald Koeman had a meeting with Messi in which he told the player that his "privileges" would no longer be indulged, and that the manager would be "inflexible", prioritising the needs of the collective over the desires of its star player. This saga has just begun. There are big meetings, a PR war and huge financial negotiations still to come.