Lionel Messi has confirmed he will be staying at Barcelona and seeing out the final year of his contract after the club refused to let him leave for free.
Messi is far from happy about remaining at Camp Nou, as he thought he would be allowed to leave this summer after telling the club all year he had made up his mind.
Once Barca said they wouldn't allow him to leave on a free transfer, though, Messi did not want to engage in legal proceedings and force his move through, so will see-out the final year of his contract.
“I am going to continue in the club because the president (Josep Maria Bartomeu) told me that the only way to leave was to pay the 700million euros clause, and that is impossible, and then the only other way was to go to court,” Messi told Goal.
“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. That's why I'm staying."
In what looks like an unsatisfactory outcome for all parties, Messi is still unhappy with the way the club is run but will begrudgingly see out the final year of his contract - before presumably leaving for nothing next summer.
“I'll continue at Barcelona and my attitude won't change," Messi insisted. "No matter how much I have wanted to go.
“I always want to win, I'm competitive and I don't like to lose anything. I always want the best for the club, for the dressing room and for myself.
“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.
"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."
😲 Could Lionel Messi actually leave Barcelona?
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) August 14, 2020
🏆 If they don't beat Bayern tonight the unthinkable could just move a step closer
📽️ Former Barca midfielder Gaizka Mendieta explains...#BarcaBayern #Messi #LionelMessi #UCL pic.twitter.com/OWoiUCnpBu
The 33-year-old stunned Barcelona fans when he sent a fax to the LaLiga giants asking to have his contract terminated, but it is that very contract clause that has brought about his change of heart.
Messi was part of the Barcelona side that was thrashed 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, and the first meeting with new manager Ronald Koeman did not go smoothly.
Messi wanted to activate a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave Barca for free at the end of the season, and not for the €700m fee that was otherwise stipulated in the deal, which expires next summer.
Barca, though, said that the clause had already expired in May and did not get extended beyond the prolonged season – which ran until August following the delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Messi came through the ranks at the Nou Camp having joined the famed La Masia academy and has won 33 major trophies and a record six Ballon d’Or titles.
Lionel Messi saga - A timeline of events
August 14: Messi and Barcelona are humiliated as they crash out of the Champions League following an 8-2 thrashing by eventual winners Bayern Munich in their one-off quarter-final clash.
August 17: Head coach Quique Setien pays the price for the crushing Bayern defeat and finishing second to Real Madrid in LaLiga as he is sacked just over eight months after taking charge at the Nou Camp – his relationship with Messi had reportedly turned sour.
August 19: Former Barca midfielder Ronald Koeman leaves his job as manager of Holland to take over from Setien, with reports claiming he told Messi he would no longer have the “privileges” he had become accustomed to.
August 25: Messi sends a burofax to Barcelona chiefs informing them he wishes to leave – with claims of disagreements between the player and the club of the validity of a contract clause which would allow him to move away for free.
August 30: Messi does not turn up for his scheduled Covid-19 test ahead of Barcelona’s start to pre-season training – meaning he cannot join in with Koeman’s plans. Later in the day LaLiga issues a statement siding with Barcelona in the dispute over whether Messi can depart for nothing.
September 2: Messi and his father Jorge hold a meeting with Barcelona, after Messi senior has told the Spanish press it would be “difficult” for his son to stay at the Nou Camp.
September 4: Messi’s father Jorge writes to LaLiga insisting his son is contractually allowed to leave Barcelona for free in the current transfer window. However, Messi later confirms his intention was to stay because he did not want to take Barcaelona to court.
