Barcelona captain Lionel Messi pinpoints at altruistic reason behind wanting to leave club

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi has admitted that he had Barcelona's best interests at heart when announcing that he wanted to leave the club in August. The 33-year-old sent the footballing world into a frenzy after handing in his transfer request but eventually made a U-turn on his decision to stay put at Barcelona due to his staggering €700m release clause. Messi went on to state that his love for the club meant he had no intention of disputing Barcelona's decision in court and dragging out a legal dispute.

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Lionel Messi transfer news: Lionel Messi spills the beans over failed Barcelona exit

While speaking to Spanish news outlet Diario Sport on Tuesday, Lionel Messi claimed that he only wanted to make Barcelona "better" by leaving the club. "There have been many disagreements but I want to bring an end to everything now because we have to be united and although the best is yet to come, my decision for handing in the transfer request was simply to make Barcelona better", he said. "I want everyone who supports us to know that I did everything with the club's best interests in mind", added Messi. 

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Lionel Messi was heavily linked with a move to Premier League side Man City over the summer. Multiple reports claimed that Messi had agreed on a five-year deal with City Football Group to work under former boss Pep Guardiola. The superstar forward also recently slammed the club in an Instagram post, after Barcelona decided to offload his best friend Luis Suarez to Atletico Madrid last week. "It was tough but I had to make a statement", said Messi.

Why was Messi leaving Barca? The issue between Messi and Bartomeu

Earlier this month, while speaking to Goal, Lionel Messi explained that he would honour his contract with Barcelona, which expires next year. However, the Argentine also aired out the issues he faced with Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu. By his own admission, Messi claimed that he wanted to leave "all year" and claimed that a clause in his contract meant he could do so for free, but in the end, he was forced to stay as Barcelona disagreed and weren't willing to reduce his €700 million release clause. Messi said, "I spoke with Bartomeu about leaving the club many times but he always told me we would talk about it later. He didn't keep his promise in the end". 

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Following the transfer drama that took place last month, Lionel Messi reassured Barcelona fans and manager Ronald Koeman that he plans to give his everything for the club this season. Messi was on the scoresheet for Barcelona when they hammered Villarreal 4-0 in their first LaLiga game of the season. 

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Image Credits - Barcelona Twitter