Barcelona has announced that Lionel Messi would leave the club after "financial and structural obstacles" stopped him from signing a new contract.

Barcelona claimed that both the club and Messi were prepared to prolong his stay, but that this was impossible due to LaLiga restrictions.

Messi has been a free agent since his contract expired on July 1.

The Catalan giants' official website said in a statement: "Despite the fact that FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi have achieved an agreement and both sides have stated their desire to sign a new contract today, this is not possible due to financial and structural constraints (Spanish Liga regulations).

"As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona."

The statement went on to say: "Both parties regret that the player's and the club's wishes will not be realized in the end.

"FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandizement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life."

Since his debut in 2004, he has scored 672 goals in 778 appearances for the club, making him arguably the best footballer ever. He is on his way to becoming the most sought-after player in the world of football.

After passing Pele's record of 643 goals for Santos last season, he now has the most goals for one club in history.

With 474 goals, he is easily LaLiga's all-time leading scorer, and he is also second all-time in the Champions League, with 120 to Cristiano Ronaldo's 134.

He won his seventh Pichichi medal, which is given to LaLiga's top scorer, last season with 30 goals, and he has led the Champions League goal charts six times, including 2014-15 when he shared the honor with Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.

With Barca, Messi won 34 major trophies, including local and European super cups, as well as the Club World Cup.

Messi has also won the Ballon d'Or, which is given to the best player in the world, six times, including four times in a row starting in 2009.

International honors with Argentina, on the other hand, had escaped him for the majority of his career, with the exception of an Olympic gold medal in 2008, until he led his country to a Copa America victory last month.

Messi has 48 hat-tricks for Barcelona, including 36 in LaLiga, and another six for Argentina, bringing his total to fifty throughout his career.