Lionel Messi has never been as close to leaving Barcelona as he is now, says Guillem Balague.

The Argentina forward missed an open training session on Monday, sparking rumours of a potential exit from the Catalan giants.

Messi is reportedly unhappy with the running of the club by head coach Luis Enrique and the Barcelona board, with the club likely to hold new presidential elections over the summer.

Rumours of a move to Chelsea gathered momentum when Messi followed the club on social media, but Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Balague says he may well stay and even if he does leave, Chelsea probably can’t afford the total cost of luring him away from Camp Nou.

“He has never been as close as this to leaving,” said Balague. “That doesn’t mean he is going to leave.

“What I mean is that it’s a possibility that has not only entered his mind – Barcelona were thinking of selling him about six, seven months ago.

“All that has been a possibility and still is a possibility – of course there are clubs that approached Messi’s family to see if they would be willing to go, especially from the Premier League.

“There are not many clubs that could fork out about £400million, which would be his buyout clause and his wages – PSG and Real Madrid, some say Chelsea but I’m not sure, certainly Manchester City – but the fact he’s never been this close to leaving doesn’t mean he will leave.”

Barcelona are set to hold a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, with Enrique and club president Josep Maria Bartomeu set to speak about the club’s future as the head coach’s and board’s positions have come under scrutiny.

With Messi’s reported unrest at the status of the club, Balague believes any potential restructure could hold the key to the forward’s future.

“The story is yes, there has been a division, a clear divorce between the manager and some of the players,” he added.

“A lot of people are pointing at Lionel Messi because he missed training but there are other players who don’t believe in Luis Enrique – they think his instructions are too confusing, they haven’t got a clear idea of what he wants to do.

“What will certainly happen is that Barcelona’s going to change direction, either in the summer with new elections, and that might mean the return of Joan Laporta.

“If something like that happens, if the board goes, or even if Luis Enrique goes in the summer, I don’t see Messi leaving at all.”