Lionel Messi joined Paris Saint-Germain earlier this week following his stunning exit from Barcelona, sending shockwaves through the world of football.
The superstar attacker had spent the entirety of his career at the Camp Nou, where he was crowned Ballon d’Or winner six times and broke the club records for goals scored and first-team appearances.
The Argentine did not plan to leave the Catalan giants this summer and was keen to renew his contract, but the club’s financial situation has led to his exit.
Barca are operating far in excess of their fresh financial limits, as implemented by La Liga, meaning that they were not able to register any new deal for Messi and he left as a free agent.
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WhatsApp messages between Messi and his Barca teammates have now confirmed the player’s desire to stay at the Blaugrana beyond this summer, but the situation was beyond his control.
The 34-year-old is part of multiple WhatsApp groups from those with whom he has played at the club and one of those he shares with his fellow La Masia graduates, which include Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas.
Argentine journalist Veronica Brunati has now reported on what Messi sent to the group before official confirmation that he would no longer be staying at the club.
It is further evidence that Messi’s public emotional farewell to the club and its fans was genuine with his private message also indicating that he was unable to remain.
Messi is alleged to have said: "I don't want to go. There is nothing left to do, there is no money. The club is doing very badly, they cannot extend with me."
The Argentine also shares a WhatsApp group with his former teammates Neymar and Luis Suarez, with whom he formed a formidable attacking trident between 2014 and 2017 - when the Brazilian left the club for Paris Saint-Germain.
Two years later, Neymar sent a message to that WhatsApp conversation - entitled ‘MSN’, after the acronym of their trio - claiming that he wanted to return to Barca from Paris Saint-Germain, where he was unhappy.
Messi replied to Neymar’s message by stating: “We need you to win the Champions League.”
That information was detailed in journalist and writer Simon Kuper’s new book Barça: The inside story of the world's greatest football club, with the information outlined in the Financial Times.
Messi subsequently informed Barca of Neymar’s situation and the club spent the summer of 2019 briefing the media that they were actively pursuing a deal to re-sign the player, but they had no intention of doing so as his price tag was out of reach for them financially - and they signed Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid instead.
Messi has now been reunited with his friend and former Barca teammate, whom he competed against in Argentina’s Copa America final victory over Brazil last month, but in Paris - not Catalonia.
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