{"id":22686,"date":"2021-08-08T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-08T15:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=22686"},"modified":"2021-08-10T11:47:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T15:47:14","slug":"lionel-messi-bids-a-tearful-goodbye-to-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=22686","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi Bids A Tearful Goodbye To Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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An emotional Lionel Messi has revealed he expected to extend his stay at Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was announced on Thursday the six-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner would not sign a new contract with his boyhood club, with president Joan Laporta saying a day later that the former regime at Barca in addition to LaLiga spending rules had thwarted any hopes of the Argentinian staying in Catalonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at his farewell press conference on Sunday morning, a tearful Messi got a standing ovation after speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThis year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay at home, that\u2019s what we all wanted more than anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d always made this our own, we were at home. We thought we would be staying here in Barcelona. But today, we have to say goodbye to all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 34-year-old, who has been heavily linked with a move to Paris St Germain, had been set to remain at the Nou Camp but is now a free agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cI did everything possible and the club, Laporta, they couldn\u2019t do it because of LaLiga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard things said about me, that I didn\u2019t want to continue, but on my life, we did everything we could because I wanted to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast year, I didn\u2019t want to stay and I said it; this year, I wanted to stay and we couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PSG appears the most likely next destination for Messi and while he confirmed that joining the French giants was a possibility, he insisted nothing was yet agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThat\u2019s honestly one possibility, to reach those heights, but I\u2019ve got nothing confirmed with anybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the press release was published, I had a lot of calls and a lot of clubs were interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the moment, I\u2019ve not got anything closed, but we are talking about a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

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