Leo Messi decided to break his silence and reveal the reasons why he will not return to FC Barcelona, but also why he chose to play in the MLS, at Inter Miami, the team patronized by David Beckham.
The 35-year-old Argentinian international gave an interview to journalists from the Spanish daily Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday, which was later picked up by all the Iberian press.
“I really wanted to come back to Barcelona. I was very excited about the idea, but after living in 2021, I didn’t want to be put in the same situation again, waiting to see what happens and eventually leaving, with the future out of my hands , but in the hands of others. I heard that Barcelona had to sell players or reduce the salaries of footballers (ed. – to bring him) and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that, to deal with something like that. So I made the decision that I would go to Miami. If I couldn’t come back to Barcelona, I wanted to leave Europe, get out of the limelight and think more about my family,” Leo Messi told Mundo Deportivo.
“Although I heard that La Liga agreed for me to come back, there were still many other things to work out. I didn’t want to be the one to blame for the departure of some players or the decrease in salaries. I had already been accused of many things that were not true in my career at Barcelona and I was tired, I didn’t want to go through all that again. I wanted to be the only one to decide on my future, I couldn’t, and I was afraid that the scenario of 2021 would repeat itself. I have also reached a point where I want to step out of the limelight a bit, to I think more about my family. As I said before, the last two years in Paris were not the best for my family”, continued the nicknamed “Flea”.
“The truth is that money was never an issue. I haven’t even had a chance to talk to Barcelona about the contract now. It was moved to a proposal, but never to a formal, written, signed proposal, because there was still nothing concrete. The intention was there, but we couldn’t advance anything, we didn’t even talk about money. If it was about money, I would go to Saudi Arabia or somewhere else,” Messi said.
“I don’t know if Barcelona did everything they could to bring me back, that’s their problem. I don’t know if they did their best or not. The club was unable to confirm whether I would be able to return 100%. It’s kind of understandable given the situation Barcelona are going through. But there are definitely people in Barcelona who don’t want me to come back, just as there were people in 2021 who didn’t want me to stay. There are certainly people in management who do not think that my return would have been auspicious,” Messi said.
Leo Messi is still not over his departure from FC Barcelona: “It was very difficult, a very ugly stage. When everything was ready and I had to sign, overnight nothing could be done, they told me that it was impossible and that I had to leave the club. I had to start running and look for a team, make a hasty decision and go through everything I went through. The truth is that I left in a strange way, I would have liked to say goodbye like Busi, Jordi, in their time Xavi and Iniesta did now, to say goodbye to people like it would have been appropriate!”
“Obviously I would like to be close to the club. I will live in Barcelona. I hope that one day I will be able to help the team with something. I love Barcelona, I’ve said it before. I would like to be here again,” continued Messi.
“I made the decision to go to MLS. The transfer is not 100% resolved, but that’s my decision. I had offers from Europe, but I didn’t even consider them, because I only wanted to return to Barcelona. Now, I want peace,” concluded Leo Messi.
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