Lionel Messi admitted he wanted to leave Barcelona in order to get out of Spain after authorities investigated him for tax fraud.
The Argentina star and his father were found guilty of evading tax on income from image rights by a Catalonian court in 2016 and were sentenced to 21 months in prison, although this was changed to a fine a year later.
Messi has now revealed he felt so mistreated during the investigation that he considered quitting Barcelona so he could get out of the country, but he thinks other clubs were put off making official offers as they knew he was at heart a one-club man.
Question marks over Messi’s future appeared again this September when he told Sport that, although he did not want to leave Camp Nou, he was eager to be part of a winning team.
It was suggested the 32-year-old was referring to recent Champions League frustrations, with Barca’s last triumph coming in 2015 and their past two campaigns ending in humiliating defeats to Roma and Liverpool.
However, Messi has made it clear he wants to end his career with Barcelona and may even pass on his dream of playing for boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina before he retires as he does not want to uproot his family.
Messi also hopes to see former team-mate Xavi return to Barca as a coach, even if that happens after he has retired. Xavi is currently coaching Qatari side Al Sadd.