Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has a dream to play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States. That dream he made out in an exclusive interview with Jordi Evole.
“I’ve always dreamed of being able to enjoy and have experience living in the United States, experiencing what the league is like there,” Messi said in the interview.
Messi has not yet renewed his contract, which ends in June 2021. Even Messi can freely negotiate with any club as of January 1.
La Pulga has been linked with a number of clubs such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). But he doesn’t want to talk about other clubs until the season ends.
“No. I don’t have clear information until the end of the year. I will wait for the season to end,” Messi said.
“I don’t know what will happen. I am focused on what we have for the next six months. It is not right to tell you what I will do after that because even I don’t know,” he said.
Messi said he wanted to focus on Barcelona and achieve the championship target this season. There are at least three titles that can be embraced, namely the Spanish League, Champions League and Copa Del Rey.
“The important thing is to think about the team and try to win titles, not to be bothered by other problems,” he added.
Barcelona in the season playing beyond expectations. They are stuck in the Spanish league. They are currently in fifth position with 24 points from 14 matches, six behind Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the top position.
While in the Champions League, Barcelona had run smoothly but failed to win Group G after losing 0-3 to Juventus. They are waiting for a tough match against PSG in the last 16.
Lionel Messi insisted that he would never move to Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid if he finally left Barcelona.
In an interview with journalist named Jordi Evole, Messi was tempted by giving a travel guide book to Paris and Manchester. This implies the two clubs that have been called the goals of Messi, PSG and Manchester City.
Messi deftly refused the two books. Evole then said he did not bring a travel guide for Madrid. Then Evole asked about the possibility of moving to the city of Madrid.
“No, it will not happen, it was never even an option,” Messi was quoted as saying by AS.
Barcelona does have a bitter experience related to the move of star players to rival clubs. Luis Figo, who had become a club icon and idol player in Barcelona, decided to cross to Real Madrid in 2000.
“My whole life has been in this city … good moments and bad moments. Now we just have to wait for how things go after this,” Messi said.
Last season, Messi had expressed his desire to leave Barcelona at the end of the season by taking advantage of the free transfer clause.
But Messi’s departure was blocked by Josep Bartomeu by stating that the clause had expired and interested clubs had to pay 700 million euros to sign Messi.
Messi finally decided to stay because he did not want to dispute with Barcelona in court.