Reuters tortured the football world by releasing an erroneous report Barcelona legend Lionel Messi had made a massive u-turn and isntead decided to stay at Camp Nou just weeks after saying he would seek a move to another club.
With the world on tenterhooks, the outlet published the announcement: "LIONEL MESSI SAYS HE WILL STAY AT BARCELONA", news that would have and sent shockwaves around the football world, only to retract their announcement moments later.
"The alert saying Lionel Messi will stay at Barcelona was issued in error and is wrong," Reuters clarified shortly after.
Also on rt.com Messi Mission Accomplished: Bartomeu finally destroys Barça, leaving Koeman to rebuild in post-Messi climateThe saga regarding Messi's future has been the bombshell transfer news of the summer and perhaps the biggest in decades, as the supposed one-club man has seemingly grown tired of instability regarding the direction of the Catalan team.
Messi's father Jorge has since landed in Spain to iron out details of his son's contract and has written a letter to La Liga disputing the validity of a €700 million buyout the club insists must be honoured.
Barcelona have reportedly offered a contract extension to the Argentine icon to tempt him into changing his mind, amid talk of a proposed move to English Premier League side Manchester City.