The incredible revelations of Lionel Messi on his unexpected departure from FC Barcelona

A very hectic summer. FC Barcelona player until June 30, 2020, Lionel Messi quickly found himself free in the middle of the Copa America, he who had not extended. His future in parentheses during the competition, “La Pulga” then finally won a major title with his Albiceleste by winning this Copa 2021, in the final against Brazil. Back in Catalonia after a few days of vacation, the number 10 absolutely had to settle his future and an extension with the Blaugranas was obviously the priority. Yes but here it is, everything collapsed in a few hours. Closely followed by LaLiga for the payroll, Barça has never managed to save money to be able to extend the 34-year-old. As a result, the latter was approached by PSG and finally signed in favor of the capital club.

Always very discreet in the media, Lionel Messi nevertheless granted a very long interview to France Football published this Saturday. The opportunity for the Argentine international (153 caps, 79 goals) to unveil behind the scenes of his abortive extension with the residents of Camp Nou: “I came back to Barcelona to prepare for the season, after having taken advantage of a few extra days of vacation that the coach had granted me. I had the idea to sign my contract and resume training immediately. I thought that everything was settled and all that was missing was my initial. But, when I arrived in Barcelona, ​​I was told that it was no longer possible, that I could not stay and that I had to find myself another club, because Barça did not have the means to extend me . It turned my plans upside down. ”

“I got it into my head that I was going to end my career in Barcelona”

Completely surprised by the announcements of his leaders during the negotiations, the current center-forward of Paris Saint-Germain struggled to swallow the pill, he who had to change his life after years spent in Barcelona. “As I said in my farewell: it was very painful for me to leave Barcelona after all these years. I had made up my mind, and my family too, that I was going to end my career in Barcelona. It was very hard, but we managed to overcome this ordeal together. I started to think about my future and PSG offered me the opportunity to join them ”, developed the Argentine during this interview. Because behind, the Parisian leaders jumped at the opportunity to convince him to come to France.

And everything was done in a few hours: “Barca issued the press release announcing that I was not going to continue and from that point on I started to wonder how I was going to bounce back. I had to find a new club to continue my career. I was lucky to be contacted by several clubs and one of them was PSG. (…) I received other proposals, but I must admit that we reached an agreement fairly quickly with PSG. “ With a transfer at zero euros, Nasser al-Khelaïfi, the president of PSG, Leonardo, the sporting director, and the Parisian leaders have therefore found the right arguments, including an XXL salary, to bring Lionel Messi back to the capital and achieve the biggest blow in the transfer window. While Barça, he found himself orphaned by his messiah.