Top European clubs eager to sign up Messi

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi has told Barcelona he wants to leave in a "bombshell" fax that is expected to spark a legal battle over a buy-out clause worth hundreds of millions of dollars and a fight from top European clubs eager to sign up the Argentinian.

Signalling the end of an era at Barcelona, where Messi is the record scorer and has won four Champions League titles, the disgruntled Argentine wants to terminate his contract "unilaterally" by triggering a release clause, a source told AFP.

Relations have plummeted this year and speculation swirled about Messi's departure after this month's humiliating 8-2 Champions League quarter-final defeat to Bayern Munich, which left Barca without a trophy for the first time since 2007.

The 33-year-old's demand, faxed by his lawyers, prompted protests against Barcelona's under-fire president Josep Maria Bartomeu outside the Camp Nou where Messi, synonymous with the club's most successful period, is worshipped by fans. "And the bomb explodes: 'I want to leave Barca'," headlined Spain's best-selling Marca newspaper on Wednesday."The Messi bomb: He wants to leave," read Catalan sports daily

Mundo Deportivo, while Sport newspaper headlined "All-out war!"

Manchester City, Paris Saint- Germain and Inter Milan are among the clubs to have been linked to Messi, who is among the greatest players in history and has wages to match, with a reported weekly salary of nearly one million euros.

ESPN reported that Messi spoke last week with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola about a possible move.