"If I leave, I would like to leave in the best way" - Lionel Messi on potential Barcelona exit

Lionel Messi has confirmed that he will not hold talks with any other club until the end of the season. The Argentine has not pledged his future to Barcelona just yet but has not ruled out staying at the club either.

Lionel Messi's contract at Barcelona expires at the end of the season, and he has not decided on his future. The forward was looking to leave in the summer as well, but the club refused to let him go and used loopholes in his contract to keep him at Camp Nou.

The Argentine was talking to La Sexta when he confirmed that he is still not 100% committed to Barcelona. He said:

"I have nothing clear until the end of the year, I will wait for the end of the season. The important thing is to think about the team, finish the year, think about trying to get titles and not be distracted by other things," said Lionel Messi.

Despite the constant swirl of transfer rumours around his future, Lionel Messi was coy about his plans for the summer.

"I don't know what's going to happen, I'm focused on what we have, on what can be done in these six months. I don't think about how the year will end because today it wouldn't be good for me to tell you what am I going to do because I don't know. I don't know if I'm going to leave or not and if I leave, I would like to leave in the best way," he said.

Despite the controversy and conflict with the management and board of the club, Messi refused to rule out a potential return to Barcelona.

"Always speaking hypothetically, I would like to return someday. I would like to return to the city, to work at the club, to contribute. Barcelona is much bigger than any player, even me obviously, and I hope that the president who comes in will do things well to help us lift important titles again," Messi concluded.

The Lionel Messi transfer saga

Lionel Messi was unhappy with Barcelona's management and had decided to leave the club in the summer. However, as the season was halted midway, the contracts were readjusted.

The Argentine has a clause where he can inform the club of his decision to leave and move away as a free agent. The deadline is usually the end of the season, but as the 2019/20 edition was extended due to the break, Messi decided to inform the club after the matches were done.

Barcelona refused to let Lionel Messi leave and claimed that the deadline to inform them was long over. At the start of the season, Lionel Messi had confirmed that he did not want to take the club to court, and that was the only reason he remained at Camp Nou this season.