Lionel Messi will not turn up for Barcelona training on Monday

Lionel Messi doesn’t consider himself a part of Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona squad and intends to skip training on Monday.

After last week’s shock transfer bombshell, plenty has been said over Messi’s future and his possible motives for leaving Barcelona. Hopes of leaving as a free agent, though, appear bleak.

LaLiga has already announced that the only way out of Camp Nou is if an interested club pays the Argentine’s €700m release clause in full, despite his representatives stating otherwise.

It came just shortly after Messi didn’t show up for a Barcelona’s pre-season medical tests over the weekend, and it appears he won’t be seen around in training for quite some time yet.

This young Barcelona fan was heartbroken when Lionel Messi didn't turn up for pre-season training 😔 pic.twitter.com/IBkCHAD2e9

— Goal (@goal) August 30, 2020

According to Sky Sports, he will again sit out of training on Monday ahead of a meeting with the Barcelona board, including president Josep Maria Bartomeu, on Wednesday to discuss his future.

It’s understood Messi requested the meeting and will attend alongside his father, Jorge, to resolve the deadlock regarding his transfer request.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner evidently still hopes to make use of the clause in his contract to allow him to leave Barcelona for free, despite LaLiga and the club stating the option expired on June 10.

Manchester City, Inter Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain are all reportedly interested in signing Messi.