Lionel Messi stays at FC Barcelona

Published on : 04/09/2020 – 18:33Modified : 04/09/2020 – 18:45

It is the end of a long soap opera that kept the football planet in suspense for ten days. Lionel Messi finally revealed to Goal his decision to stay at FC Barcelona. A long-awaited outcome, and already presented by the Argentinian media.

In this interview, published Friday August 4, Lionel Messi looks back on the reasons that could have motivated his willingness to leave the club : « I told management that I wanted to leave, throughout the season. I think that was the time, that the club needed younger people and I thought I finished my cycle here. This season has been very complicated, in training, on the field, in the locker room. »

« I always said I wanted to end my career here, fighting for titles. But the truth is that there has been no project for a long time. Every year, they are proud but every year, we tinker “, He explained, titillating in passing the president of the club, Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Earlier today, his father and manager Jorge issued a statement claiming his son could go free, denying the legality of his € 700 million release clause. Arguments refuted by La Liga, which had already sided with the club blaugrana.

Humbled by a grueling season that came to a head with a terrible loss in the Champions League quarter-finals against Bayern Munich (2-8), the Argentine had expressed his wish to leave his club ten days ago.

If this announcement is a relief for the supporters and the club, it remains to be seen what will be his attitude towards Ronald Koeman, the new coach of Barça, whose positions in mid-August accelerated the desire for the departure of the number 10.