Argentine Lionel Messi says it was a “brutal drama” when he told the family about his desire to leave FC Barcelona.
Lionel Messi takes another season at FC Barcelona.
This is what the star player says in an interview with the football media Goal , after the Argentine’s camp has held a meeting with FC Barcelona in recent days.
– Now I continue in the club because the president has told me that the only way I can leave the club is to pay 700 million euros (5.2 billion kroner, ed.) In the buy-out clause, and that is impossible, says Lionel Messi in the interview.
On August 25, FC Barcelona sent shockwaves through the international football world when the Catalans confirmed that Lionel Messi wanted to leave the club.
– I thought the club needed more young players, new players, and I thought my time in Barcelona was over. I was very sad because I have always said that I want to stop my career here.
– When I told about my wish to my wife and my children, it was a brutal drama. The whole family started crying. My children would not leave Barcelona and they would not change school, says Lionel Messi.
But the 33-year-old Argentine, who has played for the big club since 2021, no longer saw his future in Barcelona and therefore wanted to make use of a clause in his contract that made it possible to leave the club free after the season just ended.
The Argentine’s contract states exactly that if he wanted to make use of the clause, it had to happen before June 10, as the season was scheduled to end at that time.
“Was sure I was free to slip”
But when the global outbreak of coronavirus put an end to all football for three months, the season was postponed, and therefore Lionel Messi’s camp had an expectation that one could continue to make use of the clause that would allow one to leave the club.
– I was sure I was free to slip. The president has always said that after the season I could decide if I wanted to leave the club or stay. Now they are clinging to the fact that I did not say it until June 10, when we were still fighting in La Liga and were in the middle of the terrible time with coronavirus, says Lionel Messi.
