FC Barcelona legend, Lionel Messi, has finally admitted that he never wanted to leave the Spanish champions for French club, Paris Saint Germain (PSG).
The World Cup winner left FC Barcelona in 2021 in tears, and confessed during a press conference on Thursday that it was not his wish to leave Barcelona for French Lique 1 side even as he also doesn’t care if he wins the next edition of the Ballon d’Or.
Messi turned down a second stint in Catalonia in June when deciding to cross the Atlantic for a new challenge in the MLS.
He has gotten off to a roaring start in Florida, scoring nine goals in six appearances and guiding his new club, Inter Miami, to the Leagues Cup final where they’ll face Nashville on Saturday night.
The 36-year-old and his family are clearly enjoying their new life Stateside, which Messi confessed to in his first formal appearance before the media since switching allegiances to the David Beckham and Jorge Mas-owned franchise.
“We are still finishing getting settled, we arrived in Miami a month and a half ago,” Messi explained, in quotes carried by TyC Sports from his homeland Argentina.
“We still don’t have the house which we are going to live in, but it was very easy to choose [Miami]. We were convinced to come to this place and the people made it very easy, both at the club since we arrived and the fans or the people I meet on the street.
“The city is spectacular and makes it possible for you to live the day quietly and very easily. The children start school soon. While there is little left [to do], it was easier than we thought. It had been complicated moving from Barcelona to Paris.
“I’m happy, enjoying this new stage and the experience of living in this country that is something that always crossed my mind. We are in the place where we want to be,” Messi confessed, before sticking the knife into former club PSG who he left a free agent in late June.
“Me going to Paris was neither planned nor desired. I did not want to leave Barcelona and it became difficult. But it is the opposite of what is happening to me now thanks to God,” Messi added.
That Messi didn’t wish to flee his boyhood club of over 20 years was made evident in a tearful farewell press conference at the Camp Nou auditorium in the summer of 2021.
Though Messi had intended to extend his contract, which president Joan Laporta promised he would on the election trail that spring, the Catalans ultimately fell short of securing their greatest ever player because of problems navigating Financial Fair Play (FFP) limits which paved the way for him to join PSG for free.
