PARIS: An emotional Lionel Messi said joining French club Paris St-Germain (PSG) was “a possibility, but nothing is agreed” as he confirmed his exit from Barcelona after the club said it could no longer afford to pay the Argentine’s high wages.
While Messi did not confirm he would definitely join the Parisians, he said his plans were to carry on playing as long as possible. “As long as my body responds I’ll carry on playing. As long as I can, I will carry on competing,” he told a news conference.
When Messi cries, we all cry.
Big hug. ❤️ u Leo. pic.twitter.com/wAHhzWrkP3— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 8, 2021
“I tried to behave with humility and respect and I hope that is what remains of me when I leave the club,” said the Argentine as hundreds of fans massed outside Barca’s Camp Nou stadium to bid farewell to the player.
“When I get home, I’m sure it’ll be even worse. However, I’ll be surrounded by my loved ones and I’ll carry on playing football, and when I do so, I’m sure it’ll become a bit easier,” he added.
Messi said, “Honestly, when the elections happened in March, I spoke with Barca president Joan Laporta, we had dinner and after that I was convinced I would be staying.”
“My contract was never the issue. What I know is that I did everything I could. The club says it could not happen because of La Liga. I can guarantee you that I did everything I could to stay. Last year I didn’t want to and I said that, but this year it was different,” he added.
La Liga announced last Wednesday that it had secured a private equity injection of 2.7bn euros from firm CVC, with the funds to be shared amongst the clubs in return for 10pc of the league’s revenue.
It had been believed this would allow Barcelona to get the Messi deal over the line, however, after Real Madrid rejected the proposal and said they would take legal action against La Liga, Barca also came out against it.
Laporta told a news conference on Friday that the league informed him that accepting this injection was the only way they would approve a new contract for Messi and that he had to put the long-term interests of the club above any player.
Barca, whose debts total way over one billion euros ($1.18 billion), were unable to make the deal work within the frameworks of La Liga’s financial fair play regulations — prompting their surprise U-turn announcement last Thursday.
Messi signed with the club at age 13 through their youth program, La Masia. His first season with the top team was in 2004. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2019 and is the only player to win the award six times.
