Think of this as the third and final stage of Lionel Messi’s Barcelona career. We’ve had the shy and awkward boy wonder, we’ve had the fully developed, four- time Ballon d’Or winner, now we are in the age of Messi the leader. He’s in charge, and he’s not very happy. The Barcelona board and their chosen coach are the principal reasons why he has started to wonder, since the middle of last season, if his future might lie somewhere else. It was in December 2013 when, amid talk of a contract renewal, one of the club’s vice-presidents, Javier Faus, said he saw no reason ‘why the contract of this gentleman should be improved when it was revised only two years ago’.
@highlight
Lionel Messi has fallen out with Barcelona boss Luis Enrique
@highlight
The 27-year-old casts doubt over Barcelona future at the Ballon d'Or
@highlight
The Argentine missed out on the award to rival Cristiano Ronaldo
@highlight
Messi has already scored 25 goals for Barcelona this season
@highlight
READ: Only Manchester United can afford Messi
@highlight
Click here for more Barcelona news
This season the board has been the lesser evil, with coach @placeholder taking charge of the team in the summer.