After a 21-year association, 778 appearances and 672 goals, Barcelona legend Lionel Messi will not return to Camp Nou.

The Catalan giants announced the news on Thursday evening, citing LaLiga’s financial control regulations as the reason for the Argentine legend’s departure.

Messi, 34, became a free agent on June 30 when his contract expired but the Catalans had always expected their all-time leading scorer would be able to re-sign.

Barcelona released a statement which read: “Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.”

We remember 10 of Messi’s most iconic moments in Blaugrana colours…

First goal for Barcelona

It was May 1, 2005 when a diminutive 17-year-old wearing No30 ventured onto the pitch as a second-half substitute for Samuel Eto'o.

With Barcelona leading Albacete 1-0 in the 90th minute, Ronaldinho, in true R10 fashion, scooped the ball over the heads of two defenders and into the path of the youngster.

What followed next was an indicator of what was to follow over the next 16 years as the substitute let the ball bounce before looping it over the helpless goalkeeper.

“Remember the name,” was the commentator's cry. The name was Lionel Messi.

2007 El Clasico hat-trick

Roll the clock forward another two years and people were really starting to sit up and take notice of the teenager.

Rivals Real Madrid had controlled the previous league meeting, and had taken an early lead at Camp Nou.

Messi soon responded with his first Clasico goal, before his side fell behind again.

Once more, Messi did what he had to do and made it 2-2.

Sergio Ramos scored Real’s third and, with the hosts down to 10 men, it looked almost a formality that they would do the double.

But, with three minutes remaining, Messi equalised again leaving Los Merengues sprawled across the turf, locking in his first-hat trick and single handedly securing a point.

Wonder goal vs Getafe

A little over a month after his El Clasico heroics, Messi scored a goal that was strikingly similar to one scored by a certain Diego Maradona.

In a Copa del Rey semi-final against Getafe, Messi collected the ball from Xavi just inside his own half.

He then turned and left player after player in his wake, beating five before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting home from a tight angle.

Messi had just scored what would later be voted the best goal in Barcelona history and the Catalan papers were beside themselves – ‘Messidona’ read the headlines the following day.

Champions League header vs Manchester United

Heading is not the first attribute that springs to mind where Messi is concerned, scoring just 20 of them throughout his career so far.

But arguably one of his most important and iconic goals was just that, and it came in the 2009 Champions League final against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.

With the Blaugrana leading 1-0, Xavi whipped in a delightful cross and the 5ft 7in Argentine was waiting in the box.

Drifting away from Rio Ferdinand, he lept and virtually levitated, hanging in the air for what seemed an eternity before nodding past Edwin van der Sar.

Wembley final goal

Two years later Barcelona once again met the Red Devils in the Champions League final, this time at Wembley.

Messi had failed to score in each of his eight previous matches on English soil, something that probably did not matter to him as much as it did the press.

What better way to silence the critics than to grab that first goal in England, in a Champions League final, against England’s best team?

From all of 25 yards out, Messi found a way low past Van der Sar and picked up his third Champions League medal in the process.

Five goals vs Bayer Leverkusen

Messi became the first player to net five goals in a Champions League tie with one of the finest solo performances the competition has ever seen.

Barcelona were already leading 3-1 from the away leg, but clearly wanted more.

Even by his high standards, he could not separate his five sensational strikes from that evening.

He said: “I’m not sure I could ever rank my goals over one another – I honestly don’t believe that any strike was prettier than the other.”

Breaking Gerd Muller's record

The record for most goals in a calendar year had stood for almost four decades with Gerd Muller’s tally of 85 looking almost untouchable.

But in 2012, Messi was on another level, scoring 91 goals in 69 matches for Barcelona and Argentina.

En route to the record, he became the first player to surpass the 50-goal mark in a single LaLiga season, a figure unlikely to be topped for some time yet.

LaLiga scoring record

After less than a decade in Spain’s top flight, Messi blasted through LaLiga’s goalscoring record, and he did it with a hat trick of course.

In a 5-1 victory over Sevilla, he matched Telmo Zarra's 251-goal tally with a free-kick, later surpassing it and then making it truly his own by picking up the matchball.

No500 in the Bernabeu

If there was one way you would choose to score your 500th goal for your club, it would be by silencing your arch-rivals inside their own stadium – and that is exactly what Messi did in April 2017.

In the 85th minute, with the game level at 2-2 and whilst floating on the edge of the box, he finished off an inviting low ball from Jordi Alba.

He immediately ran over to the Madrid fans, removed his shirt and held it aloft in front of them.

Hitting 650

No-one dreams of scoring 650 goals for a single club, but Messi made it look so effortless.

At the start of the year, he casually broke Pele’s long-held record for the most goals scored for a single club of 643.

He soon went about raising the bar, and 650 arrived with an inch-perfect free-kick against Bilbao.

He leaves Barcelona with a new target set for anyone who dares to reach it, 672.

Good luck.