Lionel Messi: Move to MLS' Miami kept future in my hands - ESPN

Lionel Messi said he did not want to re-live his traumatic departure from Barcelona two years ago after revealing Wednesday he will join MLS side Inter Miami CF over the Catalan club.

Messi, 35, left Barca in August 2021 as a free agent, signing for Paris Saint-Germain, because they could not afford to register his contract within their LaLiga-imposed spending limit.

Barca were keen to bring the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner back this summer, with coach Xavi Hernandez confirming their interest. However, they were once again in a similar position, unable to be able to offer guarantees that the league will allow them to register new signings.

«I really wanted to come back,» Messi told Diario Sport after announcing his move to Miami. «But, on the other hand, after having lived through what I lived through, after the exit I had, I didn't want to go through the same situation again and have to wait to see what was going to happen. I didn't want to leave my future in the hands of others.

»I wanted to make my own decision for myself and my family. Even though I heard [in the media] that the league had accepted everything and that everything was OK for me to come back. There were still a lot of other things missing.

«I heard that they had to sell players or lower the salaries of players and I didn't want to go through that, nor be responsible or have anything to do with all that.

»When I had to leave, they also said that LaLiga had accepted everything, but in the end it couldn't be done. I was afraid that the same thing would happen again and I would have to rush [a decision] like I did then."

Messi had agreed a contract extension in 2021, but when it emerged one week before the season that Barca could not afford to register the