The past few days have seen numerous headlines emerge regarding Barcelona and the supposed crisis that has surrounded the club. Lionel Messi has been said to be discontent at the club and the treatment being meted out to him by manager Luis Enrique. He has also been embroiled in a transfer saga, of sorts, and rumors indicate English Premier League’s big money giants Chelsea are interested in buying him and are willing to pay the whopping 250 million euro transfer clause.
Messi has come out and refuted any and all such claims after Barcelona won 3-1 over league rivals Atletico Madrid. Messi played a big part in the win as he set up goals for Neymar and Luis Suarez, before adding a late third, to help his side move within a point of their arch-rivals.
“I have no intentions of leaving for any team, not Chelsea nor Manchester City,” he said
“I’m tired of all the things that people have been saying. I didn’t ask the club to fire anyone.”
Messi added, “People make it out as if I run the club and that’s not how it is. I don’t ask anyone to make decisions.
“Everything that has been said is lies and I want people to know that, everything that has been said is false. People say these things because they want to cause us harm. It hurts because it came from Barca people. We must be united.”
Messi has spent his entire career at the Catalan club and has won every possible individual and team accolade since making his debut in 2004.
It had been brought up numerous times in the last few days that the player might leave the Catalan club following reports of a training-ground row with Enrique, and him being dropped to the bench against Real Sociedad. David Moyes team ended up winning the match 1-0 courtesy a Jordi Alba own goal. A win in the game would have helped them capitalize on points dropped by Real Madrid against Valencia as Los Blancos lost that game 2-1.
It was necessary for Messi to go on record and refute these bizarre reports because even though they anyway look highly unlikely, fans are always on the edge of their seats given its the one of the two best, if not the best, footballer in the world under the limelight and Chelsea and Manchester City both have the requisite finances to fund this move.