‘Didn’t want to take responsibility for something like that’: Lionel Messi reveals reason he rejected Barcelona move

“Although I heard that LaLiga had accepted everything and that everything was fine for me to come back, there were still many other things that needed to happen. I heard that Barcelona had to sell players or reduce players’ salaries, and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that or take responsibility for something related to all of that. I have already been accused of many things that were not true in my career at Barcelona, and I was already a bit tired; I didn’t want to go through all of that. Although I would have loved to, it couldn’t be done,” the football legend told Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo as he explained his rationale to snub the club where he went from a precocious teenager to a global legend.

In his 17 seasons at the Catalan club, Messi helped the team win 35 titles, including four Champions Leagues, 10 Spanish leagues and seven Copa del Reys.

According to media reports, Barca were working on restructuring its finances to make sure it could afford Messi’s return besides working with the Spanish league to make sure it could get an adequate salary cap approved ahead of the new season. As reported by The Associated Press, Barcelona still has to add some players who were registered with the youth squads, including playmaker Gavi, but it gained some important salary cap space with the departure of veterans such as Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

“I’m at a point where I want to step out of the spotlight a bit, think more about my family. I had two years where I was so unhappy on a personal level that I didn’t enjoy it. I had that month that was spectacular for me because of winning the World Cup, but apart from that, it was a difficult period for me. I want to rediscover joy, enjoy my family, my children, the day-to-day… And that’s why the decision for Barcelona didn’t happen,” the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner added.

In another interview with Catalan media organisation Sport he added: “The truth is that I had offers from another European team, but I didn’t even evaluate it because in Europe my idea was only to go to Barcelona. After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barça, it was time to go to the American league to experience football in a different way and enjoy the day-to-day.”

Messi did leave the door open to working for the Catalan club after retirement.