Lionel Messi was absent at training with Barcelona on Saturday morning, despite confirming he will stay for the 2020/2021 season yesterday.
The 33-year-old admitted he had been forced to remain at the Camp Nou, accusing club president Josep Maria Bartomeu of breaking his promise to let him leave.
It came after 10 days of tension since he sent a fax telling Barca he wanted to leave.
Other players including Jordi Alba and Philippe Coutinho arrived for the session.
But Messi failed to appear at the Joan Gamper training complex for the session which began at 0730 GMT.
Last Sunday, Messi deliberately skipped the mandatory COVID-19 test for the rest of the squad.
He could still figure in new manager Ronald Koeman’s first fixture, a friendly against third division Nastic on September 12.
