Emotional Messi says he wasn’t prepared to leave Barcelona

Struggling to control his emotions, Lionel Messi said Sunday in his farewell to Barcelona that he wasn’t prepared to leave the club. Messi began crying even before he started speaking at his farewell ceremony at the Camp Nou Stadium, and had to stop talking to compose himself few times.

This is very hard for me after so many years, after being here my entire life, he said.

‘I wasn’t prepared.’

Messi said that, unlike last year when he asked to leave, he had his mind set on staying with Barcelona and did everything possible to make it happen. He added that he was surprised to hear he wouldn’t be able to stay because of the club’s debt and the Spanish league’s financial fair play regulations.

In these last few days I was thinking about what I would say today, but to be honest I couldn’t come up with anything. I was blocked, like I still am right now, Messi said.

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