After weeks of transfer drama which ended with Leo Messi announcing on Friday that he would stay with FC Barcelona after previously asking for a move, the Argentinian superstar showed up at practice with the Catalan club on Monday as if nothing had happened.
Messi’s request to leave was denied by club president Josep Bartomeu after he said that a club would need to pay the 700 million euro release clause to acquire him, an impossible task for any team.
The 33-year-old forward revealed in an interview with Goal that was released on Friday that he had no choice but to accept Barcelona’s decision and that he would play for the club in the 2020-21 season.
Messi’s discontent was largely related to his team’s lack of direction and performance in recent seasons. As the superstar comes up on the twilight of his playing days, he would have liked to be with a club in a stronger position to win trophies.
Barcelona failed to win a trophy in the 2019-20 season for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign.
Nonetheless, Messi has no choice but to put his head down and continue to work towards winning again in 2020-21, something he will do with the club that he has starred for for the better part of the past two decades.
