Messi confirms Inter Miami move, Barca return hopes ended & reason behind

Lionel Messi has finally confirmed where he will be playing his football next season, and the bad news for Barcelona supporters is that he won’t be returning to the club this summer.

In a joint interview with MD and Sport, Messi confirmed that he will be joining MLS side Inter Miami, who have been interested in signing the Argentine for the last few months.

“I have made the decision that I’m going to go to Miami. I still don’t have it closed 100%, some things still need to be sorted but I have decided to continue on this path.”

Messi also went into detail on his reasons for deciding against returning to Barcelona (via MD), despite many reports suggesting that it was his primary choice.

Lionel Messi: "I really wanted to return, I was very excited to be able to return, but, on the other hand, after having experienced what I experienced when I left, I didn't want to be in the same situation again. I didn't want to leave my future in someone else's hands."

'I heard that they [Barcelona] had to sell players or lower players' salaries and the truth is that I didn't want to go through that, nor take charge of obtaining something that had to do with all that'.

'I have already been accused of many things that were not true in my career at Barcelona and I was already a bit tired, I didn't want to go through all that. And well, the time I had to leave, LaLiga had also accepted that they sign me up and in the end it couldn't be done.

'Well, I was afraid that the same thing would happen again and I had to go through the bullfight as it happened, that I had to come here to Paris to stay in a hotel for a long time with my family, with my children going to school and still being in the hotel... I wanted to make my own decision and that's why it was a bit that I didn't turn to Barça. Although I would have loved it, I couldn't.

"I'm at a moment where I want to get out of focus a bit, think more about my family. The last two years haven't been so well for my family."

Lionel Messi: "Actually, I spoke very little with President Laporta, once or twice at most. With Xavi I do have a lot of communication. With Xavi, we talked about the possibility of me coming back. We were very excited. We kept in communication."

"I had offers from another European team, but I didn't even evaluate it because in Europe my idea was only to go to Barcelona."

"These were two years at PSG in which I was not happy, I did not enjoy myself, and that affected my family life."

Leo Messi: “One day I would like to have a farewell at Barcelona like Jordi, Busi, Iniesta or Xavi.”

“Money, never been an issue with me. We didn't even discuss the contract with Barcelona, but that written offer never arrived to me. If I wanted money I would go to Arabia.”

Leo Messi on Barcelona: “I couldn't say goodbye to people the way I wanted, which I think I deserve. There was a bad impression, I was the bad guy in the movie and I didn't like it because it wasn't the case.”

Leo Messi: “I'm not sure if Barça did everything possible to make it happen, honestly; I just know what Xavi told me. I'm sure that there's people into the club that does NOT want me to return to Barça.”

After 21 years at the Spanish club winning 32 major title, Messi moved to PSG in 21 on a marquee deal that would see him ear £35-per-year.

The 35-year-old had been left 'emotionally destroyed' by his departure from the LaLiga club, after it appeared the club could no longer afford to pay his wages, amid financial turmoil, which despite winning LaLiga this season, are still far from resolved.

Linking up with his former Barca teammate, Neymar, Messi went on to return 32 goals in 75 games across all competitions for the Parisians, while winning Ligue 1 twice in his two-year spell at the club.

His contract with the club is due to officially expire on June 30, but it had already been confirmed that he would be leaving the club.

A statement from Major League Soccer said: ‘We are pleased that Lionel Messi has stated that he intends to join Inter Miami and Major League Soccer this summer.

'Although work remains to finalise a formal agreement wee look forward to welcoming one of the greatest soccer players of all time to our League.’

He'll now join Inter Miami, who currently sit bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference League and will be hoping Messi can help improve things at the Florida football club this season after they sacked their manager Phil Neville last week.