05-09-2020

Lionel Messi said he will stay at Barcelona but only because the club's president Josep Maria Bartomeu broke his word to let him leave.

Messi's stinging attack on Bartomeu and the club means his future still remains in doubt.Even if he is not allowed to go this summer, 33-year-old Messi can negotiate with other teams from January 1 and leave for free when his contract expires in July.

Bartomeu could yet respond with his resignation, having previously indicated he would step down if Messi publicly said he was the problem and agreed to stay."It has been a long time since there has been a project or anything at all," Messi said in an explosive interview with Goal.

"They are always juggling and plugging gaps."Messi believed he had a clause in his contract that meant he could leave for free at the end of last season but Barca said that option expired on June 10.