A TEARFUL Lionel Messi has confirmed that he is leaving Barcelona despite his desire to stay at the club.
Messi, 34, has been at Barcelona since he was 13 and is regarded as the club’s greatest player ever, scoring an incredible 474 goals in 520 appearances.
He also won 35 trophies at the Spanish club, including 10 LaLiga titles and four UEFA Champions Leagues.
Messi struggled to hold back the tears during an emotional press conference in Barcelona on Sunday, where he cleared the air about issues surrounding his departure.
“I was convinced to stay here at Barcelona,” he began. “This is my home, our home. I wanted to stay at Barça and it was the plan… and today I have to say goodbye after my entire life here.”
He confirmed that he had already put pen to paper on a new deal before he was informed he could not be registered due to LaLiga’s wage cap rules.
“My new contract was done. All done. I wanted to stay and when I came back from holidays, it was done,” Messi emphasised.
“Then it’s how Laporta explained it. At the last minute, with everything with LaLiga, it couldn’t happen.”
The Argentina captain has been heavily linked with a switch to Paris Saint-Germain, and he confirmed there is interest from the Qatar-owned French moneybags, one of only a handful of clubs that can afford him.
He said: “Paris Saint-Germain is a possibility, yes. At the moment nothing is confirmed, I received lot of calls after the Barcelona statement. We’re talking about it.
“I’m really sad because I didn’t want to leave this club. I love Barcelona and I wanted to stay, my contract was ready. I did everything in my possibility to stay.
“There was no problem with Barcelona, really. I was OK with the club on every detail. We had an agreement on everything, I was convinced to stay at Barça… but it was not possible because of Liga rules.”
While on holiday, Messi was pictured with PSG players Neymar, Marco Verratti and Angel Di Maria, sparking speculation that he might have decided on a move to the French club before returning from his holidays.
He clarified that the photo was just one of friends having fun, nothing more.
“The picture with Paris Saint-Germain players was a coincidence, completely. I was there with my friends, we decided to take a photo… they told me: ‘Come to Paris!’ but it was just a joke, we were on holiday,” he said.
Messi also refuted rumours that he refused to take further cuts to his huge wages, believed to be around €138 million a year, after he had already agreed to a 50 percent reduction.
“The news about Barça and (Barcelona president) Laporta asking me for a 30 percent salary reduction on Thursday is absolutely fake. It’s a lie. I offered to reduce my contract by 50%, and then they didn’t ask me for anything else,” he added.
Messi, who has won more Ballon d’Ors than any other player in history with six, appears destined for PSG after a member of Qatar’s royal family stated that ‘negotiations are concluded’.
