TNT BLOG:messi-agrees-500m-real-madrid

The Barcelona legend will depart Camp Nou this summer after the Spanish champions' greatest rivals activated his €250 million buy-out clause
 Lionel Messi has left Barcelona in turmoil by agreeing to join Real Madrid at the end of the season in a record-breaking five-year deal that will be worth around half a billion euros.

The Argentine forward, winner of five Ballon d'Or awards and considered one of the greatest players of all time, will cost Madrid €250m to buy and approximately the same again in agent fees, commissions and wages.

The move was announced directly before Saturday's Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu in what appears to have been a deliberate move to destabilise the Liga leaders.

Messi, who joined Barcelona as a 13-year-old, explained that money was the only factor driving his move.

"With Financial Fair Play, Barcelona could not give me what I wanted and deserved," the 28-year-old said at the pre-match press conference.

"I recommended they fund my contract by selling the Camp Nou, but for some reason they valued the club more than me.