Lionel Messi Is Barca bound, but is he happy about it?
After over a week of back and forth and rumours and hearsays about his future following his shocking request to leave Barcelona, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi has broken his silence on why he pushed to leave Camp Nou revealing a long-standing disagreement with the president.
In a candid interview with sports media, Goal, Messi clear the air on why he wanted to leaving, stated that the humiliating 8-2 defeat by Bayern had nothing to do with it contrary to various opinions.
“It did not come because of the Champions League result against Bayern, no – I had been thinking about the decision for a long time.
“I told the president and, well, the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I wanted to go or if I wanted to stay and in the end he did not keep his word.
“I told the club, including the president, that I wanted to go. I’ve been telling him that all year. I believed it was time to step aside.
“I believed that the club needed more young players, new players and I thought my time in Barcelona was over. I felt very sorry because I always said that I wanted to finish my career here.
“It was a very difficult year, I suffered a lot in training, in games and in the dressing room. Everything became very difficult for me and there came a time when I considered looking for new ambitions.
His request to leave soon grew into a saga and was heading towards turning into a bitter legal battle, and the Barcelona Icon has now said he’d stay for another year because he doesn’t wish to fight with the club which he has being at for over a decade.
The 33-year old also hinted that his family did not take the news so well as his kids cried when he told them he wanted to leave Barca.
Now that we have heard Messi’s part of the story, what do you think of the whole situation?
