Barcelona are facing the very real prospect of losing Lionel Messi this summer.

Lawyers at Camp Nou will be working ten to the dozen after the club's star man sent a fax on Tuesday night confirming that he intends to leave the Catalan side after 16 glorious years.

Messi and his team seem certain that they will be able to terminate their deal at Barcelona in a matter of days, whereas the club believes their collaboration will last until 2021.

Dealing with Messi exit

Either way, the situation seems pretty clear and whether it takes place this year or the next, Messi's time at Barcelona seems numbered and that will be ringing alarm bells in the Barca boardroom.

And although they can bail water out of the sinking ship by defending Messi's contract, there will ultimately come a time where they're faced with the prospect of replacing the superstar.

It goes without saying that no footballer on the planet could possibly hold a candle to Barcelona's all-time top scorer, it's more about the club getting as close to that dizzying level as possible.

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Who could replace Messi?

So far, the disbelief surrounding Messi's fax means that not too many names have been touted, but we've decided to draw up some of the options we think Barcelona should be exploring.

Ranging from expensive to cheap, straight forward to difficult, we've named nine potential options for Barcelona and rated each of them by both quality and how realistic a deal would be.

Take a look at the potential solutions down below and decide which one would replace Messi the best:

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1. Paulo Dybala

Quality: 8/10

Realistic: 5/10

Replacing one Argentine wizard with another makes sense on paper and Dybala was in brilliant form for Juventus at the back end of last season, but the ship has probably sailed for Barcelona.

Being linked so strongly with a Tottenham move suggests Dybala almost left Juventus last summer, though I doubt they'll be so willing this time around after a strong 2019/20 campaign.

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2. Lautaro Martinez

Quality: 7.5/10

Realistic: 10/10

It seems as though Barcelona and Inter still have a long way to go before a deal is completed, but this move has been touted far too much for there to be no common ground between the clubs.

As long as the Catalans don't expect to get a 30-goal-a-season forward straight off the plane, there's good reason to think Martinez would be one of the best long-term investments on the market.

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3. Riyad Mahrez

Quality: 7.5/10

Realistic: 9/10

Arguably one of the Premier League's most underrated players, Mahrez enjoyed a fantastic second season at City, while also not being crucial enough to make him an 'untouchable' at the Etihad.

Therefore, I'd say Barcelona wouldn't have too much trouble signing him, but would his arrival get the pulses racing as a Messi replacement? Absolutely not.

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4. Sadio Mane

Quality: 9/10

Realistic: 2/10

Considering Liverpool are world and Premier League champions, as well as having won the Champions League in 2019, there's not too many incentives to leave Anfield right now.

Mane has recently been mentioned on Barcelona's radar and he would be an incredible player to bring in for Messi, but I just can't see him cutting ties with Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool.

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5. Mohamed Salah

Quality: 8.5/10

Realistic: 5/10

Unfounded or not, there always seems to be more speculation about Salah leaving Liverpool than Mane and there's no denying that the Egyptian is one of the sport's most prolific forwards.

Like another player further down the list, though, we think Salah would be more likely to sign a contract with Real Madrid as opposed to their Spanish rivals.

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6. Neymar

Quality: 9.5/10

Realistic: 7/10

In terms of quality and suitability, I'm not sure anybody scores higher than Neymar and Barcelona reportedly did their all to make this transfer happen last summer.

However, the timing would make absolutely no sense for PSG and would the chiefs at Camp Nou want to move on from the Messi era by crawling back for one of their former players? Hmmm.

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7. Kylian Mbappe

Quality: 9.5/10

Realistic: 0/10

There's no harm in dreaming big, but Barcelona would have their head in the clouds if they thought they stood a chance of signing Mbappe who, if anything, would probably choose Real Madrid.

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8. Jadon Sancho

Quality: 8/10

Realistic: 5/10

As one of the most consistent suppliers of goals and assists in European football at just 20 years old, it's surprising that Sancho hasn't been linked with Barcelona more this summer.

It's a move that would make so much sense for the Blaugrana, though I'm inclined to think the radio silence has a lot to do with the fact Manchester United will probably sign him before the year is out.

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9. Ansu Fati

Quality: 6/10

Realistic: N/A

It would be classic Barcelona for them to turn to their youngsters and perhaps it would be the club learning their lesson if they resisted the temptation to spend big in the transfer market.

That being said, Fati is still a long, long way away from being the final product and it might be five years until we see him producing goal and assist stats worthy of being a Messi replacement.

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GIVEMESPORT's Kobe Tong says

In a world where signing either Neymar or Mbappe was possible, they're the obvious choices, but I can't see Paris Saint-Germain selling up after coming so close to Champions League glory.

As a result, if I'm putting my realistic hat on, then Barcelona have got to turn their attention to the future and pay whatever price Inter Milan are putting up on Martinez.

Sure, the Argentine wouldn't provide the sort of instant impact that you'd get from Mane or Dybala, but his flashes of brilliance at Inter this season prove that he has an incredible future ahead of him.

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And with the increased quality that comes with being airdropped into the Barcelona squad, you can expect 20 goals a season from Martinez even if he flops in every other department.

Barca have dropped too many clangers to count under Josep Maria Bartomeu's latest tenure, but I feel pretty confident that signing Martinez would prove the exact opposite.