Lionel Messi is winning the hearts and minds of Barcelona’s supporters in a rapidly escalating power struggle at the Nou Camp.
Messi, 33, has shocked the football world by demanding to leave the club where he has spent the last 20 years and established himself as one of the greatest players of all time.
Argentinian superstar Messi is already being courted by the biggest clubs in the world with Manchester City his preferred destination and Paris Saint-Germain also in the running.
Messi is prepared to push it to the limit, he is putting his reputation on the line and his advisers are discussing potential transfers this summer with Inter Milan also keen.
This is as close as he has ever come to leaving.
But that may only be half the story as two thirds of fans in a poll conducted by Catalan radio station RAC1 said they should hold a presidential election and convince him to stay.
And at the centre of the storm is current president Josep Maria Bartomeu with supporters demanding he quits for his part in Barcelona ’s decline and Messi’s disillusionment.
"Bartomeu, resign!" fans chanted after they congregated outside the Nou Camp in protest because they blame him for not rebuilding the Barcelona squad after the vintage days of Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
It would appear that Barcelona is no longer big enough for both of them and if there is one player in the world who is allowed an ego it must be Messi.
Barcelona are desperately trying to turn around the situation and convince him to change his mind with the growing hope that he will report for the return of pre-season training this weekend.
Messi has demanded he be allowed to leave for free this summer because of a clause in his latest contract while Barcelona are threatening legal action as the bitterness spirals out of control.
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But behind the public row is a frustration on Messi’s part that Barcelona are no longer serious players in the Champions League, they failed to win a trophy this season for the first time in 12 years and the squad is ageing and in rapid decline.
Messi wants to go out with a bang and finish his career by winning more silverware - not with a whimper. But his public stamping of his feet appears to be getting what he wanted.
Bartomeu must do something drastic or leave because the fans simply will not stand for Messi leaving.
And one of the presidential candidates in the forthcoming elections, Victor Font, insists Messi will only stay if Bartomeu goes.
Font, speaking to Onda Cero radio show El Transistor, said: “If there is any option for Messi to stay, no matter how small, it goes through the resignation of Bartomeu.
"Messi has been here for 20 years, making that decision will have cost him a lot but it indicates his degree of frustration here.
"This board will leave with this departure on its CV. After the 8-2 [Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich], we thought we had hit rock bottom, but we hadn’t.”
Do not be surprised if Messi ends up staying and his demands to leave only serve to strengthen his position at the club and prove who is the real boss of the Nou Camp.
