After confirming his stay at Barcelona, Lionel Messi said that his attitude and his dedication to win games will not change "no matter how much I have wanted to go".
"I will continue at Barca and my attitude will not change no matter how much I have wanted to go. I will do my best. I always want to win, I'm competitive and I don't like to lose anything. I always want the best for the club, for the dressing room and for myself," Goal.com quoted Messi as saying.
Despite being uncertain over how the club will do in the upcoming season, Messi has vowed to "give my best for Barcelona".
"I said it at the time that we were not given the support to win the Champions League. Actually, now I don't know what will happen. There is a new coach and new ideas. That's good, but then we have to see how the team responds and whether or not it will give us to compete at the top level. What I can say is that I'm staying and I'm going to give my best for Barcelona," he said.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner had confirmed that he will stay at Barcelona after weeks of speculations. Revealing the reason behind his decision, the Argentine star had said that the Barcelona president told him that the only way to leave the club was to pay the EUR700 million clause.
"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. Now they cling to the fact that I did not say it before June 10, when it turns out that on June 10 we were competing for La Liga in the middle of this awful coronavirus and this disease altered all the season," Messi had said.
"And this is the reason why I am going to continue in the club. Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the EUR700 million (£624m/$823m) clause, and that this is impossible," he had added.
Earlier on Sunday, the orgsers of LaLiga had sided with Barcelona and said that the Argentine striker's contract with the club is still valid and added that if other clubs are interested in availing the footballer's services, then they must pay EUR700 million as the release clause amount in full.
Messi also denied taking Barcelona to court saying that such a thought "never crossed my mind."
"There was another way and it was to go to trial. I would never go to court against Barca because it is the club that I love, which gave me everything since I arrived. It is the club of my life, I have made my life here. Barca gave me everything and I gave it everything. I know that it never crossed my mind to take Barca to court," he had said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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