Confirmed! Messi to stay at Barcelona to avoid legal dispute

Messi had not spoken publicly since the embarrassing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich

messi-ground-ap (File) Lionel Messi | AP

Lionel Messi announced on Friday that he will stay with Barcelona for the upcoming season. Messi made the announcement in a video interview published by Goal.com. He said that he would not get into a legal dispute with the club.

The decision ended an impasse over his future after he had told Barcelona that he wanted to leave the club for free at the end of the season. But Barcelona wanted him to finish his contract that runs until the end of 2021. It claimed that the clause invoked by Messi to leave had expired in June and said that he had to pay the buyout clause of 700 million euros ($837 million) if he wanted to depart now.

There had been no agreement when Messi's father and Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu met on Wednesday to discuss the player's future, with Jorge Messi saying his son wanted to leave and Barcelona saying it would not facilitate his transfer.

Messi had not spoken publicly since the embarrassing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on August 14, one of the worst defeats in the player's career and in the club's history.

He had spoken out against some of the club's decisions this season, the first without a title since 2007-08.

The season included a coaching change and exchange of public accusations between players and some club directors. New elections have been called for next March, and Bartomeu offered to resign if he was the reason Messi wanted to leave.

(With PTI inputs)

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