Peanut butter and jelly. Vodka and soda. Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona. That’s how synonymous the 34 year old forward has been with his only professional club.

On Thursday, that all came to an end.

Trouble had been brewing between the club and their star for some time. The two sides came together on a short-sided agreement months ago to work on a new contract. At the time, it was a small glimmer of hope that the longstanding relationship would continue. Those pint-sized dreams turned into a nightmare for Barça fans everywhere with the announcement. Little time remained for contract negotiations, and nothing could be resolved.

Messi has evaded many things in his career and life. Changing clubs had been one of them until Thursday’s big news. Not considered a scam in most areas since rising to prominence, La Pulga Atómica has paid his dues in full and deserves to circumvent any more time with FC Barcelona. Messi has put his all into his club for 17 years; he has completely taxed his body, and no one can call him a fraud.

May this be a clean breakup betwixt one of the game’s greats and the club that he made world famous. Let’s hope Blaugranes and Azulgranas everywhere can open a bottle of their finest Argentinian wine and appreciate the time they had with Leo.