By Taiwo Ibrahim
Lionel Messi has revealed the reasons behind his move to Major League Soccer side, Inter Miami after leaving PSG, Sportivationng.com reports.
The 35-year-old announced on Wednesday night that he won’t be returning to Barcelona as widely expected.
He was also linked with a mammoth move to Saudi Arabian side, Al Hilal.
The World Cup winner has now lifted the lid on his decision to turn down a move to Saudi Arabia and Barcelona.
He said in an interview with Spanish publications Mundo Deportivo and Sport.
“I have made the decision that I am going to Miami. I still don’t have it agreed upon 100% and a few things are needed, but well, we decided to continue my path there,”
“After winning the World Cup and not being able to return to Barcelona, it was my turn to go to the league of the United States to live football in another way and to enjoy the day to day more.
Obviously, with the same responsibility and desire to play well and do things well as always. But in a calmer way.”
“Money has never been an issue with me. We didn’t even discuss the contract with Barcelona! They sent me a proposal but was never an official, written and signed proposal”
Messi revealed that his decision not to join Barcelona is not financially motivated.
“We never negotiated my salary. It wasn’t about money otherwise I was going to join Saudi”.
“I’d have loved a farewell like Iniesta, Busquets, Jordi Alba, Xavi… this is why I was very happy to hear the chants with my name by Barça fans at Camp Nou”.
“Hearing the Camp Nou chant my name at the 10th minute was very beautiful and I really enjoyed it”
“I heard that they had to sell players or lower the salary of players and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that.
I was already accused of many things that were not true in my career at Barcelona and I was already a little tired, I didn’t want to go through all that again.”
“I heard reports of La Liga giving the green light but the truth is that many, really many things were still missing in order to make my return to Barça happen”,
“I didn’t want to be responsible for them to sell players or reduce salaries. I was tired”.
“I really wanted to return to Barça, I had that dream. But after what happened two years ago, I did not want to be in the same situation again, leaving my future in the hands of someone else…”
“I wanted to take my own decision, thinking of me and my family”.
“I’ve been supporting Barça during the year, I’m a fan. I spoke to Xavi a lot, we discussed and we always had frequent exchanges”
“If it had been a matter of money, I’d have gone to Arabia or elsewhere. It seemed like a lot of money to me”
“The truth is that my final decision goes elsewhere and not because of money”.
