Barcelona Transfer News: Huge Lionel Messi and Neymar Exit Rumours

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It’s almost unsettling to imagine Barcelona icon Lionel Messi in the colours of any club team other than the Blaugrana, but there’s never been a more realistic chance of the 28-year-old leaving the Camp Nou, according to reports.

Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Guillem Balague relayed those details, telling Revista Bitesize (h/t Sky Sports), “It is the closest he's ever been to leaving Barcelona. It doesn't mean he will, but it is the closest he has ever been to leaving the club.”
Graham Hunter went on to note that an ongoing investigation into the player’s tax activities, which could see Messi jailed for up to 22 months if found guilty, may have made the forward more open to a potential move away from Catalonia.
Hunter touched upon the accusations Messi sought to defraud the Spanish tax authorities as a factor that could be pushing him out the door:

The climate, not just at the Camp Nou but in Catalonia, is probably enough to make him and his family scratch their heads and wonder.
I guess at his age... maybe you start to look at your next move and you think your next move at 28 is vitally important. 
Do I stay? Do I look at pastures new? I wouldn't pretend to know what he's going to do but at this stage of his life and with Barcelona run in the way that it is, I think it's a story of merit. It's something I guess you and I will be talking about for months to come.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

As noted in the piece from Sky Sports, the Sun recently reported three English teams—Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea—all made tentative enquiries to Messi’s representatives about the prospect of a transfer. The Premier League trio are certainly clubs with a lucrative pull that could potentially lure Messi too.
But Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu recently said anyone who believes these rumours should be “embarrassed,” per Marc Williams of the Daily Star. According to Sport, the Blaugrana want Messi to retire with them and are preparing a new contract for the forward despite an extension only being agreed in May 2014.
Most of the club's supporters are sure to be delighted to hear talks could be imminent over a new deal. Spanish football expert Sergi Dominguez doesn’t feel as though there is much to the stories linking Messi with a move away anyway:
Indeed, losing Messi could be catastrophic for Barcelona and they’ll be hoping the situation surrounding his tax activities is resolved swiftly, allowing him to get back to full fitness. The longer this goes on, the more likely it is stories will continue to swirl about his future.
Encouragingly for Barcelona, the club’s other two attacking crown jewels, Neymar and Luis Suarez, have stepped up in the absence of the Argentina international. However, the former has also been linked with a move away from the Camp Nou.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images

Neymar has been superb since Messi picked up his injury.

According to Don Balon (h/t Will Giles of Metro), the Brazilian wants a transfer as he seeks to fulfil his ambition of becoming the best player in the world. Giles wrote that Neymar has concerns about escaping Messi’s shadow and United would be a team, after showing interest in the summer, keen to sign the former Santos man.
As we can see here courtesy of Squawka Football, with Messi currently sidelined with injury problems, Neymar has stepped up in emphatic style:

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