Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi has opted against dragging Barcelona to court in order to force a move away from the club.
Messi in an exclusive interview with Goal revealed how his earlier decision to leave the club elicited emotional response from his wife and sons.
The 33-year-old, who has spent 20 years at the Catalan club, dropped the bombshell news on Barcelona in late August that he intended to leave on a free transfer.
However, Barca refused to recognise the break in his contract, as they claimed the moment for using it had passed in June, and so a stalemate began in which the Argentina international tried to find a way out.
“When I communicated my wish to leave to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama,” Messi told Goal.
“The whole family began crying, my children did not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools.
“But I looked further afield and I want to compete at the highest level, win titles, compete in the Champions League. You can win or lose in it, because it is very difficult, but you have to compete.
“At least compete for it and let us not fall apart in Rome, Liverpool, Lisbon. All that led me to think about that decision that I wanted to carry out.”
However, that ambition to accept a new challenge was thwarted by Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, whom Messi claims reneged on a promise he could leave at the end of 2019-20.
“I thought and was sure that I was free to leave, the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I stayed or not,” he said.
