Lionel Messi has put to bed the biggest potential transfer saga this summer by committing his future to Barcelona in a statement on Friday, confirming a dramatic u-turn after initially telling the club he wanted to leave.
“I wasn’t happy and I wanted to leave,” the player told Goal. “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 led by Bartomeu is a disaster.”
It had earlier been reported the Argentine icon and Barca’s all-time top scorer would make his decision official as the club had made it known they would not sell him for less than the €700 million buyout clause in his contract.
? WORLD EXCLUSIVE ?Lionel Messi will NOT be leaving Barcelona, we can confirm.We sat down with the man himself to clear up a few things ?Here’s what he had to say: pic.twitter.com/NfnhGpZpXc
That was despite the player’s father writing to appeal the validity of the clause to La Liga, after the Spanish league had sided with the Catalan club.
