7th June, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Argentine football star, Lionel Messi has given reasons he shunned a return to his former club, Barcelona and decided to go to Inter Miami.
Messi was being expected to return to Barcelona after his contract at PSG expired.
Messi, in an interview with Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo, said he really wanted to return to Barcelona and that he was very excited to be able to return.
He said on the other hand, after having experienced what he experienced when he left, he did not want to be in the same situation again.
“I didn’t want to leave my future in someone else’s hands. Although I heard that it was said that La Liga had accepted everything and that everything was fine for me to return, there were still many other things that had to happen.
“I heard that Barcelona had to sell players or lower player salaries and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that.
“When I left, La Liga had also accepted that they could register me and in the end it couldn’t be done,” he said.
Messi said he wanted to make his own decision and that was why he did not return to Barcelona, saying although, he would have loved it, but that could not be.
“Actually, I spoke very little with President Laporta, once or twice at most. With Xavi I do have a lot of communication.”
“With Xavi, we talked about the possibility of me coming back. We were very excited. We kept in communication.”
“So many things have been said, so many things have been leaked, so many lies were told, but I cannot go out and deny everything that’s being said,” he stated.