Where will Lionel Messi play next after leaving Barcelona?

After the shocking news that Lionel Messi is leaving FC Barcelona, where will the legendary soccer star end up playing next? 

Lionel Messi is no longer a player for Barcelona. How weird does it feel to say that out loud, folks? On Thursday, the massive news broke that the two sides won’t be signing a contract after all due to financial hardships.

Having said that, there’s no doubt that countless clubs out there would be ready to do whatever is needed to get Messi to town. With Barcelona out of the picture, where could the superstar goal-scorer end up playing next?

Several teams across Europe will be ready to try and sign Lionel Messi after his Barcelona exit

Manchester City might be a club that jumps out to fans. While a reunion for Messi and Pep Guardiola sounds nice, the reigning Premier League champs just closed the deal for Jack Grealish, which will cost them around $139 million. While City could try and make some magic work here, we don’t think they’ll be able to afford to pay Messi his massive wage.

On the other side of town, what about Manchester United? The club just got the news that Marcus Rashford will need to undergo shoulder surgery, keeping him off the pitch until at least October. Enter Messi?

Outside of England, teams like Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and Juventus could also be in play here. Should Messi suit up for Juventus, it’d break the internet, as he and Cristiano Ronaldo would end up on the same team making brilliant plays next to one another. That would be something to see.

At the same time, a surprise club could come in from out of nowhere to try and grab Messi. Maybe a return to Argentina to play for Boca Juniors? Everything is all up in the air right now. What we do know, though, is that Messi has played his last game at the Camp Nou with Barcelona.