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Leonardo admits Lionel Messi wanted Barcelona stay

:Headline: Leonardo admits Lionel Messi wanted Barcelona stay:
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.
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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. body check tags ::

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona14111242142834
2Atletico MadridAtletico148512181329
3Real Madrid1283125111427
4Villarreal127322319424
5GironaGirona146352018221
6Mallorca146351312121
7Osasuna136341720-321
8Athletic Bilbao135531913620
9Real BetisBetis145541616020
10Real Sociedad135351110118
11Celta Vigo145362224-218
12Rayo Vallecano124441313016
13Sevilla134361218-615
14Leganes133551316-314
15Getafe142751011-113
16AlavesAlaves144191524-913
17Las PalmasLas Palmas143381825-712
18Valencia122461219-710
19Espanyol133191226-1410
20Real ValladolidValladolid142391027-179
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