End of the suspense in Barcelona: after threatening to leave his long-standing club, Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has decided to honor the last year of his contract until June 30, 2021, giving up a standoff.

"I will never go to trial against Barça because it is the club that I love, that has given me everything since I arrived, it is the club of my life," Lionel Messi said in a long interview with Goal.com, a media specializing in football, which went online Friday, September 4. 

He thus put an end to a soap opera that held the football planet in suspense.

In this 17-minute interview, Lionel Messi explains how badly lived the humiliating defeat of FC Barcelona against Bayern Munich in the quarter-final of the Champions League (2-8) conceded on August 14. 

"I felt very bad, I didn't want anything. I told the club president I wanted to step aside, I thought it was time to bring in new people and that the Barcelona stage was over for me, ”said the 33-year-old Argentinian. 

The player claims to have however matured this decision during the past season, disappointing for FC Barcelona who could not regain the title of champion of Spain.

"I had spoken to the president (Josep Maria Bartomeu) about it. He always told me that I could decide at the end of the season to leave or to stay, but he did not respect his word", explains the player .

Leo Messi and his entourage have started a showdown with the Catalan club to try to obtain the right to leave without having to pay the release clause of 700 million euros present in his contract.

But he finally had to make up his mind to stay to honor his last year at FC Barcelona. "The president told me that the only way to leave is to pay the clause, and if not, we will go to trial. It's madness , I will never be on trial against the club that I love and that gave me everything, ”Messi assures us. 

A planetary symbol

His choice is a relief for the supporters and for the Catalan club, who feared to see their living legend leave his club of always by the back door. He wanted to reassure them during this interview, he will continue to give himself to background for the Barcelona jersey and the team now coached by Ronald Koeman: "I will continue at Barça and my attitude will not change because I wanted to leave", he assured.

Insatiable scorer, captain with 34 trophies and multiple records, six-time Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi has embodied this prestigious team for more than 15 years.

He arrived at the age of 13 at the Catalan training center, due to growth problems that led him to leave Rosario to find a club that is funding his medical treatment.

He is by far the top scorer in Barça history (634 goals in 731 matches), the top scorer in La Liga history, the top scorer in a calendar year (91 in 2012) and the player having won the most trophies with Barcelona, ​​34 in all, including four Champions Leagues (2006, 2009, 2011, 2015).

The elf also collected six Ballons d'Or, better than Cristiano Ronaldo (5), Cruyff, Michel Platini, Marco Van Basten (3).

All that is missing is the consecration of a major title with the Argentine selection: the 2008 Olympic champion reached the finals of the 2014 World Cup and the Copa America in 2007, 2015 and 2016.

The "Chip" has become, over the years, a local pride as much as a planetary symbol.

And this positive image has not changed, despite his sentence to 21 months in prison (which he did not have to serve) and a 2.1 million euro fine imposed by the Spanish Supreme Court in 2017 for tax fraud, a few weeks before her marriage to Antonella, her childhood friend, mother of her three boys (Thiago, Mateo and Ciro).

 With AFP  

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