Lionel Messi is set to wrap up his move to Paris Saint-Germain in the coming days, but things reportedly could have been different for the Barcelona icon.
The Argentinean is turning his back on the Nou Camp after 17 years in the first-team, during which time he has picked up the La Liga title 10 times and four Champions League trophies.
There is also the small matter of six Ballon d’or awards to add to that, all of which has led to a profound sense of loss at Barcelona.
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The club had been desperate to keep their talisman despite the expiration of his contract this summer, but La Liga’s financial regulations – or, more pertinently, the club’s own fiscal mismanagement – meant that was impossible.
“I can’t make a decision that will affect the club for 50 years,” Barca president Joan Laporta said when explaining why they couldn’t keep Messi on.
“The club is over 100 years old and it’s above everyone and everything, even above the best player of the world. We will always thank him for everything he’s done for us.
“In order to have fair play, we need to do this or make an effort which would put the club at risk. We couldn’t keep going with this and we needed to make a decision, which we have.”
Messi was in tears at his farewell press conference on Sunday, telling the assembled media and fellow players that he didn’t want to leave for a new club.
“This year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay at home, that’s what we all wanted more than anything,” he said.
“We’d 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.
“I did everything possible and the club, Laporta, they couldn’t do it because of La Liga.”
Messi is now heading to Paris to put the final touches to a lucrative free transfer move to Paris Saint-Germain, where he will link up with his former Barca teammate Neymar.
However, a report in Spain claims that Messi gave serious consideration to joining Luis Suarez, another former Barca colleague, at Atletico Madrid.
Ignacio Miguelez, an Argentinean journalist with a long history of reporting on Messi, claims that Atletico made a move to bring the Barca icon to the club, and Messi and his family gave serious consideration to the proposal.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone was said to be personally in charge of the transfer move, with Messi’s close relationship with Suarez also key to the deal.
However Messi and his family have chosen to join PSG, and the move will be confirmed soon.