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Leonardo admits Lionel Messi wanted Barcelona stay

Leonardo admits Messi wanted Barcelona stay
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Paris Saint-Germain's sporting director Leonardo admits that Lionel Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona this summer, prior to his switch to the Ligue 1 outfit.

Paris Saint-Germain's sporting director Leonardo has admitted that Lionel Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona this summer, prior to his switch to the Ligue 1 outfit.

The Argentina international ended his 21-year association with the Catalan club, who could not afford to keep hold of the six-time Ballon d'Or winner amid their severe financial troubles.

Messi eventually signed a two-year deal with PSG and Leonardo has since expressed how he never envisaged the 34-year-old playing for the Parisian giants.

"I can't hide that we had contact before, but after January, when he had six months left on his contract. We never spoke to him before January 2021," Leonardo told Canal Plus.

"I think his idea was to stay at Barca. Honestly, he was sure he didn't want to go and he wanted to finish his career there. But there ended the Messi story at Barcelona, and ours began. Imagining a player like Messi with the PSG shirt is something enormous and very nice."

Recognised by many as the greatest player of all time, Messi scored an incredible 672 goals in 778 games for Barcelona, where he won 35 major trophies.

The legendary forward made his first Champions League appearance for PSG on Wednesday night, starting alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, however they were frustrated against Belgian outfit Club Brugge, who held on to claim a 1-1 draw.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona12110140112933
2Real Madrid1173121111024
3Atletico MadridAtletico126511871123
4Villarreal116322019121
5Osasuna126331716121
6Athletic Bilbao125431812619
7Real BetisBetis125431210219
8Mallorca12534109118
9Rayo Vallecano114431210216
10Celta Vigo125161820-216
11Real Sociedad124351010015
12GironaGirona124351517-215
13Sevilla124351217-515
14AlavesAlaves124171419-513
15Leganes122551216-411
16Getafe12174810-210
17Espanyol123181122-1110
18Las PalmasLas Palmas122371321-89
19Real ValladolidValladolid12228924-158
20Valencia11146817-97


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