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Agence France-Presse

Lionel Messi said he will stay at Barcelona but only because the club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu broke his word to let him leave.
Messi’s stinging attack on Bartomeu and the club means his future still remains in doubt.
Even if he is not allowed to go this summer, 33-year-old Messi can negotiate with other teams from January 1 and leave for free when his contract expires in July.
Bartomeu could yet respond with his resignation, having previously indicated he would step down if Messi publicly said he was the problem and agreed to stay.

️ Leo #Messi: “I will give it my all. My love for Barça will never change.” pic.twitter.com/xBh29dTqpr
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 4, 2020

“It has been a long time since there has been a project or anything at all,” Messi said in an explosive interview with Goal.
“They are always juggling and plugging gaps.”

WORLD EXCLUSIVE
Lionel Messi will NOT be leaving Barcelona, we can confirm.
We sat down with the man himself to clear up a few things
Here's what he had to say: pic.twitter.com/NfnhGpZpXc
— Goal (@goal) September 4, 2020

Messi believed he had a clause in his contract that meant he could leave for free at the end of last season but Barca said that option expired on June 10.
“The president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I wanted to go or if I wanted to stay and in the end he didn’t end up keeping his word,” Messi said.
“And this is the reason why I am going to continue in the club … because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the 700-million-euro release clause.

When Leo Messi scored 5️⃣ goals in 1️⃣ gamepic.twitter.com/XXrBMDLr6F
— 433 (@433) September 5, 2020

“This is impossible, and then the other way was to go to trial. I would never go to court against Barca because it is the club that I love, that gave me everything since I arrived, it is the club of my life, I have made my life here.”
Barcelona responded to Messi’s pledge by posting a picture of the striker on Instagram in the club’s new kit, with the caption: “I’m going to give my best. My love for Barca will never change”.
Messi had requested to leave the club he joined as a boy following Barcelona’s humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, with Manchester City the favourites to sign him.

How many goals will Lionel Messi score next season? pic.twitter.com/R77imeQSRQ
— Goal (@goal) September 4, 2020

His lawyers sent Barca a burofax on August 25 stating his intention to depart but Messi says he made his feelings clear to Bartomeu long before.
“I told the club, especially the president, that I wanted to go,” said Messi. “I’ve been telling him all year. I believed it was time to step aside.
“I believed that the club needed more young people, new people and I thought my time in Barcelona was over, feeling very sorry because I always said that I wanted to finish my career here.
“It was a very difficult year, I suffered a lot in training, in games and in the dressing room. Everything became very difficult for me and there came a time when I considered looking for new goals, new horizons.
“It wasn’t because of the Champions League result against Bayern, I had been thinking about it for a long time. I told the president and the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I wanted to go or if I wanted to stay and in the end he did not end up keeping his word.”
Barcelona ended the season without a trophy for the first time since 2008, which also extended Messi’s unsuccessful run in the Uefa Champions League to five years.

Messi is still the king of Barcelona
How long will his reign continue? pic.twitter.com/UwF8z6LcvG
— Goal (@goal) September 5, 2020

He has scored 634 goals and won 34 titles with the club that he joined as a 13-year-old and where he came through the ranks at La Masia.
Messi said his decision to leave left his wife and three sons distraught.
“When I told my family that I could go it was a drama,” he said. “They all started crying.”


Despite his unhappiness at having to stay, the Argentinian insists he will give his all for the team next season under new coach Ronald Koeman, who is trying to overhaul the squad.
“I am going to continue at Barca and my attitude is not going to change, no matter how much I have wanted to go,” Messi said.
“I will do my best. I always want to win, I am competitive and I don’t like to lose ever.”
Messi to China? No chance but Beijing 2008 might hold the key
Messi was absent from preseason training last week as he continued to try to force a move.
“I said before we couldn’t win the Champions League. Now I don’t know what will happen,” he added.
“There is a new coach and a new idea. That’s good, but then we have to see how the team responds and if it means we can compete or not. What I can say is that I’m staying and I’m going to give my best.”


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Lionel Messi ‘forced’ to see contract out at Barcelona

A screenshot shows a Goal interview with Lionel Messi at his home in Barcelona. Photo: Reuters

Lionel Messi to China? No chance but Beijing 2008 backdown might hold the key to him staying

Lionel Messi greets Barcelona fans ahead of the Joan Gamper Trophy against Arsenal in August, 2019. The Argentine forward has asked to leave the Spanish club. Photo: EPA

Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi reacts during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final football match between Barcelona and Bayern Munich at the Luz stadium in Lisbon on August 14, 2020. (Photo by Manu Fernandez / POOL / AFP)

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 3, 2011 file photo FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi from Argentina, front, and coach Josep Guardiola celebrate during a semi final, 2nd leg Champions League soccer match against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona. Pep Guardiola will not continue as Barcelona's coach after this season, according to Spanish news reports. Guardiola, whose contract expires at the end of the season, is scheduled to announce his decision on Friday April 27, 2012, in a news conference at 1330 local time (1130 GMT) with club president Sandro Rosell and sports director Andoni Zubizarreta. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

Lionel Messi (R) of Argentina readies to kick the ball to score as Netherlands goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer looks on during their men's quarter-final football match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Shanghai on August 16, 2008. AFP PHOTO/LIU Jin

Argentina's Javier Mascherano, right, and Lionel Messi celebrate after receiving their medals after winning the men's soccer tournament final between Nigeria and Argentina in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008. Argentina won the match 1-0 to take the gold medal. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Lionel Messi asks to leave Barcelona, faces legal battle

Lionel Messi has asked to leave FC Barcelona. Photo: AFP

epa08625667 (FILE) - FC Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi greets fans prior to the Joan Gamper Trophy soccer match between FC Barcelona and Arsenal FC at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain, 04 August 2019, re-issued 25 August 2020. Messi has sent a certified letter to the club on 25 August communicating his intentions to leave the club. EPA-EFE/ANDREU DALMAU *** Local Caption *** 55378795

epa08625666 (FILE) - FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi reacts during a Spanish LaLiga soccer match between FC Barcelona and Granada CF at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 19 January 2020, re-issued 25 August 2020. Messi has sent a certified letter to the club on 25 August communicating his intentions to leave the club. EPA-EFE/ANDREU DALMAU *** Local Caption *** 55782505

Lionel Messi to Inter Milan is a dream of club’s Chinese owners  that dates back to 2016

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring against Napoli at the Camp Nou in the Uefa Champions League. Photo: AP

Roger Federer beats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in Forbes rich list

Switzerland's Roger Federer celebrates a point at the 2020 Australian Open. Photo: AFP

epa07077704 FC Barcelona's Leo Messi reacts during a Spanish LaLiga soccer match between Valencia CF and FC Barcelona at Mestalla stadium, Valencia eastern Spain, 07 October 2018. EPA-EFE/Kai Foersterling

Paulino Alcantara: the Filipino star who was Barcelona’s original Lionel Messi

Paulino Alcantara poses in his FC Barcelona kit. Photo: FC Barcelona

Sport

Football

Argentine, who can speak to other teams from January 1, says club president Josep Maria Bartomeu broke promise
The 33-year-old had been linked with former boss Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City


Lionel Messi, who can speak to other teams from January 1, says Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu broke promise allowing him to leave this summer.


Uefa Champions League

Fifa

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi ‘forced’ to see contract out at Barcelona

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Argentine, who can speak to other teams from January 1, says club president Josep Maria Bartomeu broke promise The 33-year-old had been linked with former boss Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City

Argentine, who can speak to other teams from January 1, says club president Josep Maria Bartomeu broke promise

The 33-year-old had been linked with former boss Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City