Argentine striker Lionel Messi assured this Sunday, overwhelmed by tears, that both he and his family were "convinced" that they would continue at Barcelona, which he considered his home, and that he was not prepared to say goodbye like that.
“Last year, when the burofax mess broke out, I was ready, I knew what to say.
But not this year.
We were convinced that we were going to continue here, at home, it was what we wanted the most.
We always superimpose our well-being, being in our house and enjoying this life in Barcelona, which is wonderful ”, she confessed practically without being able to contain her tears.
"I did everything I could," he
said.
[Lionel Messi leaves FC Barcelona due to "economic and structural obstacles" to renew his contract]
"This is very difficult for me," he acknowledged.
The footballer did not reveal where he will play next season.
"At this time I have nothing arranged with anyone. Several clubs have been interested and there is still nothing closed. We are talking, obviously," he explained at a press conference held at the 1899 Auditorium of the Camp Nou.
"Today I have to say goodbye to this. It was many years. All my life. I arrived when I was very young. After 21 years I am leaving with my wife, with three Catalan-Argentine children. I have no doubt that we are going to return because it is our home. also. I have promised it to my children, "he declared.
"Thanks to all the teammates and the people of the club. The values of this club taught me to handle myself with humility and respect, I hope that is what remains of me here.
I went through many beautiful things, also bad,
but all that did me grow up and be the person I am today. I gave everything for this club and for this jersey from the first day to the last, "he added.
[Messi surprises a grandfather who keeps track of all his goals on sheets of paper]
His teammates until now, who witnessed the press conference, gave him a heartfelt and long applause that broke the soccer star.
Barcelona attributed last Thursday to
"economic and structural obstacles"
the impossibility of signing a new contract.
Lionel Messi cries at the start of his farewell press conference at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona.Joan Monfort / AP