It's hard to imagine Barça without Lionel Messi when you walk around the legendary Camp Nou stadium. The Argentine star shines everywhere, on billboards, jerseys and in the hearts of fans who still can't believe it: number 10 wants to leave. Since Tuesday evening, the Catalan city has been shaken by the news.

"I can't get used to the idea. I was born in 2003 and I only remember Barca with Messi. I grew up with him. For me, Barça is Messi. And now he goes away, he leaves us ", explains, between indignation and sadness, David Martin, 17, the blue and garnet jersey of the Catalan club on his shoulders.

For Barça fans, the news goes badly. Even more after a bad season, without a title and marked by constant tensions between the team and the management, the dismissal of two coaches and finally, the painful defeat (8-2) against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Yesterday evening, at 7 pm, a demonstration was formed in front of the gates of the administration of FC Barcelona, ​​rue Aristide-Maillol, in the upper part of Barcelona, ​​at the call of the "Tsunami Blau Grana", group of supporters unhappy with the behavior of the club management vis-à-vis Lionel Messi.

"We created a vacuum around Messi"

In front of fifty journalists of all nationalities, Barça supporters shout "Bartomeu resignation! Messi remains!" Jamie Easton, American journalist for beIN, understands the fed up with Messi: "He was fed up with accumulating disappointments, lies and none of his requests to correct things were taken into account Worse, we created a vacuum around Messi, after the departure of Neymar, which he did not stop demanding from the management to work for his return, the dismissal of Ernest Valverde last January, followed by that of Luís Suarez whose new trainer Ronald Koeman has announced that he does not want it… And to top it off, derogatory comments about his emoluments, and especially the poor results, made his anger burst. "

Ferran Garcia, another Barça fan on the spot, said: "" They humiliated us, the team were not up to the task, the management is shameful, but we had Messi. We were holding on to him. And there he goes. What are we doing ? Huh, what do we do now? "He repeats. For him as for many others, the person in charge is everything: the management of the club chaired by Josep Maria Bartomeu who maintains, according to the local press, bad relations with the Argentine.

"Other stars will follow suit"

But it's not just around Barca's facilities that things squeak. In the center of deserted touristy Barcelona, ​​the employee of the first kiosk at the top of the Rambla judiciously displayed the headlines: all devoted to Messi. Barça supporter Paco collects all the sports newspapers - Spanish and French - with the aim of "tasting the news delivered with thunderous Unes". According to him, "Barça is in the red and would be on the verge of bankruptcy". A little lower, no bankruptcy in sight, on the other hand for Leticia, a souvenir seller who has noticed an unusual influx of customers since the morning, who come into her shop to buy Messi figurines: the largest at 20 €, the most small, at 16 €. Will Messi's departure lead to a drop in sales? "More stars will follow him!" And this literate saleswoman quotes the writer García Marquez: "Nothing lasts more than five years, either because of an unexpected event, or because we ourselves need to change".

In the middle of Plaça de Catalunya, the blonde employee of Store Barça tells us that during the morning of yesterday, there was a crowd in the store, meeting of supporters, some criticizing Messi, others understanding his anger … In the meantime, a French woman asks for a "Nº10" jersey flocked with Messi's name: "My son asked me for it". She is well aware of the announcement of the Argentine's departure, but no, she did not rush for fear of running out of jersey stocks! And what does she think of Messi's departure: "Oh you know, all the footballers at these big clubs only have one goal: the money! He wanted to be paid more ..."

Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan ... Faced with the desires of Lionel Messi, which rocked the football world on Tuesday, few clubs seem capable of welcoming the Argentine superstar and his astronomical salary. And FC Barcelona will undoubtedly do everything to retain him ...