Messi: ‘I thought about leaving Barcelona many times’

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Barcelona star Lionel Messi has revealed that he has previously thought about leaving the Catalan club many times in the past.

The Argentine arrived at Barcelona from Newell’s Old Boys in 2003 and has, since then, grown in stature and is currently the FIFA Best Player of the Year award holder ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

In an interview that he gave to Radio Catalunya recently, the 32-year-old talked about times when he thought about leaving Barca.

“There were times when I got bored with so many situations I had around. There have been several periods, especially in 2013 and 2014, when I had that problem with the Spanish tax office. It was very difficult for me and my family. People do not understand what you are going through in those moments, do not listen, criticize and comment

“I was the first to end up in the viewfinder and so the situation was so hard. Starting with me, they then made it clear that they would do the same with all the players and then the situation was diluted. At that time, however, I thought of moving away from Spain, not because I wanted to leave Barcelona, but because of what I was going through.”

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Messi has won the La Liga ten times so far in his career, winning the Champions League four times. He has won the Ballon D’or five times as well, bar the Best Player award earlier this year.

He started the season injured and was out for some weeks before he slowly returned to action. He has scored only two goals in all competitions this season, assisting once. But he has now fully recovered from injury and helped Barca overcome Inter in their 2-1 win in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

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