Speculation is mounting that Lionel Messi will bring an end to a 20-year love affair with Barcelona and move on this summer in what would be one of the biggest transfers of all time.
The brilliant attacker may not play with quite the same incessant dynamism that he he did in his younger years [not for nothing was he nicknamed La Pulga - The Flea] but his genius remains intact and his goal return hasn't significantly diminished.
Every club on the planet would want him; albeit only a few have the financial might to harbour realistic ambitions of pulling it off.
Esporte Interativo is reporting that Messi has told the club he wants to leave in the wake of Friday's 8-2 humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Messi's contract runs out next summer but he'd still command a big fee and an astronomical salary - he's currently earning around €100m a year between wages and image rights.
Talk of Messi's unrest is not new. In February he had a public falling out with sporting director Eric Abidal, who had questioned the work ethic of some of the players. An incensed Messi asked Abidal to "name names".
As far back as 2013 he had a cut at the board after economic vice-president Javier Faus had claimed the No 10 wanted a pay rise, just six months after agreeing an improved contract.
"Mr Faus is a person who knows nothing about football," Messi responded. "He tries to manage Barcelona as if it were a business, but it is not. Barcelona is one of the biggest teams in the world, and it should be represented by the best directors [on the board] too."
Such outbursts are rare for Messi, a private and considered man, but he couldn't again hold his tongue after his side surrendered their La Liga crown to Real Madrid with a 2-1 defeat to Osasuna in July.
"Tonight's game is a microcosm of our entire season," he said.
"We've been too weak and vulnerable. It's not normal that another team beats us for intensity and desire. We dropped too many points along the way and that sums up our season."
He has won everything there is to win in the club game but, like every elite level athlete, the desire for success is never fully satisfied.
Messi has certainly made no secret of his desperation to win the Champions League again, "that beautiful Cup, which we desire so much". Barca last lifted it in 2015, but they look a million miles off Europe's top teams right now.
The shattering defeat to Bayern was the latest instalment in a series of knockout stage disasters.
Last year Liverpool overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit in the semi-finals, thumping a shell-shocked Barca 4-0 at Anfield to make the decider.
In the tunnel beforehand, Messi had warned his team-mates: "Remember Rome was our fault, nobody else's, don't let the same thing happen. That was our fault, we can't miss this opportunity. If we do it right, we're there [in the final]."
"Rome" was the scene of another collapse twelve months previously, when Barca brought a 4-1 lead to the Stadio Olimpico in the quarters and subsequently slumped to a gutless 3-0 defeat.
Their soft underbelly has been exposed too many times, and a jaded Messi may just feel he can't continue to carry a club that's in such disarray.
The Argentinian may also justifiably believe he has given them enough.
His story at Barcelona began in 2000, when he arrived in Spain as a shy, small 13-year-old.
By then, Messi had already started to receive expensive injections to offset a growth hormone deficiency, but Barca were happy to pick up the tab for that treatment as they lured him from Newell's Old Boys - for whom he scored over 500 goals - and began to nurture his talent in their famed La Masia academy.
When he was 16, Messi stepped up to senior training and stunned established stars by dancing around Lilian Thuram and Carles Puyol in a dribbling drill.
"I couldn't believe my eyes," Xavi would reflect years later.
His progression to superstardom accelerated at a frightening pace and he has sustained a level of magnificence only his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo has equalled. Both have been freakishly superb for almost 15 years.
But while Ronaldo has picked up titles in England, Spain and Italy, Messi has been a one-club man. If he does fancy a crack at one of Europe's other top leagues, now is the time to do it.
So where could he actually go?
Manchester City are obvious candidates. They have deep pockets at the Etihad and, of course, Pep Guardiola. The manager had a strong relationship with Messi when he was at helm in Barcelona and the City hierarchy have long considered signing the star to be their Holy Grail.
Last month Guardiola actually implored Messi to resolve his differences with Barca and finish his career there, but there's no way he'd pass up the chance to work with a player he has often spoken of with reverence.
"Don't write about him, don't try to describe him, just watch him," he once gushed.
PSG are the other super-wealthy candidates in the mix. Neymar left the Nou Camp three years ago to escape Messi's shadow and establish himself as the de facto best player in the world.
Imagine the scowl on his face if the French club offloaded him to free up more cash for a Messi swoop? Stranger things have happened.
Inter Milan might have another go at bringing him to Italy. In 2006, they were prepared to meet the €150m buyout clause Barca had in Messi's contract.
Years later, former Barca president Joan Laporta revealed the Spaniards raised the buyout fee to €250m, which ultimately scared Inter off.
The Serie A outfit are financially robust enough to be considered a serious prospect though.
It just remains to be seen if Messi is prepared to break the hearts of his first love and look to realise his Champions League dream somewhere else.
