Lionel Messi put an end to intense speculation about his future on Friday by saying he will remain at Barcelona for one more year.
The Argentine, six times world player of the year, had told the club last month that he wanted to leave, insisting that a clause in his contract allowed him to do so in a free transfer.
Barcelona, backed by La Liga, have insisted that a buyout clause of 700 million euros ($ 824 million) should be paid.
“I was not happy and wanted to leave. I have not been allowed this in any way and I will stay at the club so as not to get into a legal dispute. The management of the club that Bartomeu runs is a disaster, ”Messi told the Goal.com website.
“There was another way and it was to go to court,” he added. “I would never go to the pitch against Barça because it is the club that I love, which has given me everything since I arrived. It is the club of my life, I have made my life here.
“Barça gave me everything and I gave everything. I thought and was sure that I was free to go. The president always said that at the end of the season I could decide whether to stay or not. Now they hold on to the fact that I did not say it before June 10, when it turns out that on June 10 we were competing for La Liga in the middle of this terrible coronavirus and this disease was altered all season.
The 33-year-old Argentine added: “When I communicated my wish to go to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama. The whole family started crying, my children didn’t want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools ”.
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