He's staying.
Lionel Messi confirmed Friday in an interview with Goal.com he'll remain with Barcelona in the 2020-21 season. Messi told Barcelona last month he intended to leave this summer on a free transfer but he now has changed his mind and indicated a willingness to re-commit himself to the club for the coming campaign. Here's his explanation for the transfer saga, which has gripped the soccer world in recent weeks.
"I'll continue at Barcelona and my attitude won't change, no matter how much I have wanted to go," Messi said. "I told the club, the president, that I wanted to go. I've been telling him all year.
"I thought my time in Barcelona was over, sadly -- I always 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.
"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."
Argentina's TyC Sports reported Friday Messi decided to stay because he didn't want to end his 20-year association with Barcelona via a legal dispute over his release clause.
After sitting out the first week of Barcelona's preseason training camp, Messi appears set to rejoin his teammates under the direction of new head coach Ronald Koeman and pursue domestic and continental success in the coming months.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@LFC
