Never imagined having to say goodbye but I did everything possible to stay, admits Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has revealed that he did everything in his power to try and stay at Barcelona but the club couldn’t do anything because of the La Liga’s rules. The Argentine became a free-agent at the end of June and the club confirmed, earlier this month, that the two parties will be parting ways.
With Lionel Messi entering the final year of his contract, many fans expected the Argentine to stay at the club despite his transfer saga in the summer of 2020. However, with reports indicating that the 34-year-old had come to an agreement over a new contract with Barcelona, things took a drastic turn with the club unable to register his contract. That has been because of the La Liga’s financial fair play rules in place which stopped the Catalan giants from registering any new players so far.
That was later confirmed by the club in a statement that also revealed that Messi won’t be re-signing with Barcelona following the expiration of his previous contract. It saw the 34-year-old admit that this entire situation has come as a great shock to him as he never “imagined having to say goodbye” to Barcelona ever. Messi further added that he wanted to stay and did everything within his power but “couldn’t do it because of La Liga”.
“This is very difficult, I was not prepared for this. Last year I was convinced to leave, but this year we were going to stay, my family and I wanted to continue here, in our house. After 21 years I'm leaving with my three Catalan-Argentine kids. We've lived in this city, this is our home. I'm just really grateful for everything, all my team-mates, everyone who has been by my side," Messi said in his farewell interview.
"I gave everything for this club from the first day I arrived to the last. I never imagined having to say goodbye as I didn't think about it. What's clear is I did everything possible, and they (Barca) couldn't do it because of La Liga. A lot of things have been said about me, but on my behalf we did everything I could because I wanted to stay. Last year I didn't want to stay and I said it. This year I did and I couldn't.
"I love this club. Without seeing the fans for over a year-and-a-half has been very hard. If I had imagined it [his leaving speech] I would've imagined the Camp Nou full and being able to say goodbye properly,” he added.
With the 34-year-old now officially a free-agent, it has seen Messi heavily linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City but the former are reportedly his top suitors. That has been confirmed by Messi as he revealed that “Paris Saint-Germain is a possibility”. The forward further added that he did get a lot of enquiries but talks are still ongoing at the moment.
“Paris Saint-Germain is a possibility, yes. At the moment nothing is confirmed, I received a lot of calls after the Barcelona statement. We’re talking about it,” he added.
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