Lionel Messi couldn’t hold back tears as he bade FC Barcelona a final farewell in his last press conference at the Spanish club’s Camp Nou Stadium.
The football star fought with his emotions as he delivered his goodbye message. He said it was hard for him to think of what to say and he did not know what to utter.
“These recent days I’ve been thinking, giving a lot of thought to what I can say. And the truth is that I can’t think of anything, this is really difficult for me after so many years
“I’ve been here my entire life, I’m not ready for this. And last year with all the nonsense, I was convinced of what I wanted to say, but this year it is not the same.
“This year my family and I were convinced we were going to stay here, that is what we all wanted more than anything.
“We were at home, and we thought we’d be staying here in Barcelona, the time we’ve hard here and with the city and [in terms of the] football has been amazing.
“But today, I have to say goodbye to all of this.”
Messi revealed he offered to take a 50% pay cut to remain at Barcelona but an agreement could not be reached
“I offered to reduce my salary by 50 percent and they didn’t ask me for anything else.
“The news that I’d asked for 30 percent more is a lie. We did everything we could and it wasn’t possible.
“A lot of things people are saying aren’t true and as I said, I did everything [I could].
The star player also said he did not give false hope to fans he was going to stay.
“I did everything possible and the club, Laporta, they couldn’t do it because of La Liga.
“I’ve heard things said about me, that I didn’t want to continue, but on my life, we did everything we could because I wanted to stay.
“Last year, I didn’t want to stay and I said it; this year, I wanted to stay and we couldn’t.”
He appreciated the Spanish giant for his time at the club and how he has learned and grow at the club.
“I’m very grateful for the career that I’ve had but especially in Barcelona, the titles that we’ve won, the defeats as well because they made me learn and grow.”
