“Last year, I didn’t want to stay and I said it; this year, I wanted to stay and we couldn’t.” These were the words of the Barcelona legend, Lionel Messi, as he said tearful goodbye to the club after 21 years.
He also said, “I didn’t want to leave this club, it’s the club l love”.
Barcelona, last Thursday, confirmed the six time Ballon d’or winner’s departure. The news came same day Messi and his family returned to Catalonia following his post-Copa America holiday.
Messi had returned to Barcelona hoping to agree on the details of the announcement of his new five-year deal.
He said he had already agreed to reduce his wages by 50 per cent.
“This year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay at home, that’s what we all wanted more than anything,” said Messi.
“We’d always made this our own, we were at home. We thought we would be staying here in Barcelona. But today, we have to say goodbye to all of this.
“I did everything possible and the club, Laporta, couldn’t do it because of La Liga,” said Messi.
He went further to say, “I’ve heard things said about me, that I didn’t want to continue, but on my life, we did everything we could because I wanted to stay.
“Last year, I didn’t want to stay and I said it; this year, I wanted to stay and we couldn’t.
“I’m not ready for this. And honesty, with all the nonsense with the burofax, I was convinced of what I wanted to say.
“We thought we would be staying in Barcelona. The time we have had here has been amazing.”
Barcelona President, Joan Laporta blamed Messi’s exit on the former regime at the club in addition to La Liga spending rules thwarting any hopes of the Argentinian staying in Catalonia.
Meanwhile, reports claims PSG are offering Messi a two-year deal worth £25m a year after tax with the option of a further year but Messi insists “nothing is confirmed.”
The Aventine is said to have spoken directly with PSG head coach, Mauricio Pochettino and his lawyers are reportedly in Paris working on a deal.
But asked if a move to PSG will be his next move, Messi said: “That is one possibility, to reach those heights.
“I’ve got nothing confirmed with anybody. I had a lot of calls, a lot of interested clubs. At the moment, nothing is closed, but we are talking about a lot of things.”