Lionel Messi plans to end his career at Barcelona despite admitting he wanted to quit the club and the country in the wake of his tax bill row with the Spanish government.
The Argentina international was found guilty of defrauding the authorities of £3.6 million between 2007 and 2009 and, despite having made a corrective payment of £4.4m in 2013, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, which was reduced to a fine of £223,000 in 2017.
It almost forced Messi out of the club he joined in 2001 as a 13-year-old.
"In 2013/14 I did want to leave Barca. There was a situation that went beyond what I felt for the club," he told Rac 1 Radio.
"At that time, with the mess of the treasury, I wanted to leave, not wanting to leave Barca but wanting to leave Spain. I felt mistreated."
There would have been no shortage of suitors had he gone through with his intention but Messi accepts no-one actually considered he was serious.
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