Lionel Messi, has agreed to stay at the club for the 2020/21 season after a battle between the two was getting muddy.
In an interview with Goal, he made some revelations as to what has transpired between him and the club when he announced he wanted to leave.
Messi handed a transfer request and asked to leave for free but Barca was in no mood to let their talisman go and said the clause that allowed him to leave on a free transfer expired in June.
There was bickering between the two as Messi wanted to leave for Manchester City.
Now, the 33 year old has agreed to stay to avoid a legal tussle.
“I have not been allowed this in any way and I will stay at the club so as not to get into a legal dispute” he said.
“There was another way and it was to go to trial,” he added.
“I would never go to court against Barca because it is the club that I love, which gave me everything since I arrived.
“It is the club of my life, I have made my life here.
“Barca gave me everything and I gave it everything. I know that it never crossed my mind to take Barca to court.”
“It was a very difficult year, I suffered a lot in training, in games and in the dressing room.
He also confirmed that he had wanted to say goodbye to the La Liga club earlier.
“I told the club, the president, that I wanted to go , I’ve been telling him all year”
“I thought and was sure that I was free to leave, the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I stayed or not,” he said.
The family factor was very important to Messi as his wife and children did not want him to leave as well.
“Mateo is still little and he doesn’t realise what it means to go somewhere else and make your life a few years elsewhere,” he said.
“Thiago, he is older. He heard something on TV and found out something and asked”
“He cried to me and said ‘let’s not go’. I repeat that it was hard, really” he added.
“My son, my family, they grew up here and are from here. There was nothing wrong with wanting to leave. I needed it, the club needed it and it was good for everyone”
“My wife, with all the pain of her soul, supported and accompanied me.”
Messi has spent 20 years at the club where he has won six Ballon D’or.
By Sakyibea Ofori |editors.3news.com|Ghana
