Whenever a player decides to leave a club it's no surprise to see loads of random rumours start flying around as to why they decided to head for the exit door.
Considering Barcelona are arguably the biggest club in the world and Lionel Messi is possibly the greatest player ever, we can expect to see a number of said rumours over the coming weeks - most of which promise to be both hilarious and ridiculous in equal measure.
Barcelona announced on Thursday evening that the Argentine would not be signing a new deal due to the club's ongoing financial concerns, but Mundo Deportivo have got a very different version of events.
Remember those hilarious and ridiculous rumours we mentioned? Get ready for probably the best you'll hear all year.
The Spanish news outlet report that one of the reasons Messi isn't signing a new deal at Camp Nou is because Barça failed to sign Atalanta centre-back Cristian Romero - yes, Cristian Romero the soon-to-be Tottenham player.
Messi was said to be desperate for Barcelona to strengthen their defence ahead of next season - the man's got a point to be fair to him - and with countryman Romero on the verge of a move to Spurs, he decided that was that and headed for the exit door.
When you sit and think about it logically, maybe it actually isn't so stupid after all. Ronald Koeman's side clearly need to add to their backline if they're to challenge next season, and it's not like he doesn't have a history of spitting his dummy out because of the club's transfer dealings (Luis Suarez springs to mind).
It's just...Spurs? At the centre of arguably the best ever football's future? It just doesn't sound right.
We'll probably never know the real reason behind his departure, but for now Barcelona are sticking with 'we're a financial mess and years of mismanagement and poor decisions have ultimately come back to haunt us' - that's it, good to keep up appearances.
This article was originally published on 90min as The reason Lionel Messi won't be signing a new deal at Barcelona.
Source: www.90min.com