A tearful Lionel Messi bid goodbye to FC Barcelona after the player and the club failed to agree to extend his stay.<\/p>\n
Messi, who was a free agent since July 1 at the end of his contract, was expected to sign a fresh five-year deal with Barca ahead of the upcoming La Liga season.<\/p>\n
“I thought it was all sorted, all agreed, then in the last moment, it was not possible due to La Liga issue. That is what happened. I cannot say about the club, Laporta says they cannot due to La Liga. I can only say I did everything possible to stay here,” said Messi in a press conference, which was attended by his teammates.<\/p>\n
“I offered to reduce my contract by 50 per cent and they asked for nothing else. The news of me asking 30% more is a lie. A lot of what people are saying are not true.”<\/p>\n
Messi had tried to leave Barcelona in August 2020, making a formal request for an exit after a break down in his relationship with then president Josep Maria Bartomeu but successor Joan Laporta, who presided over the Argentine’s rise to greatness, convinced him to stay.<\/p>\n
“This is the end with this club and now a new story will begin. Yes, it’s one of the most difficult moments for me. I don’t want to leave this club, it’s a club I love and this is a moment I didn’t expect.<\/p>\n
“Last year I wanted to leave, this year I wanted to stay, that’s why I’m so sad,” said the 34-year-old.<\/p>\n
On his rumoured link to Paris Saint-Germain, “[It is] One possibility. I have nothing confirmed with anybody, I had a lot of interest and had a lot of calls when Barcelona made the announcement. But we are talking about a lot of things.”<\/p>\n
Speaking of his time at the club, “This is really difficult for me. After so many years, being here my entire life, I’m not ready for this … Today, I have to say goodbye to all of this.<\/p>\n
“After 21 years, I am leaving with my wife, with my three little Catalan-Argentine kids, and I can’t … This is our home. I promised our children that [we’ll be back]. I’m really grateful for everything.<\/p>\n
“I never imagined having to say goodbye because I never thought of it. But I never imagined it this way.”
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A tearful Lionel Messi bid goodbye to FC Barcelona after the player and the club failed to agree to extend his stay. Messi, who was a free agent since July 1 at the end of his contract, was expected to sign a fresh five-year deal with Barca ahead of the upcoming La Liga season. “I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[75,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newspaper","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n