Lionel Messi Makes Shocking Admission While Addressing Barcelona Rift

After his turbulent summer with Barcelona, Lionel Messi is now taking full responsibility for the tension it has inflicted to the club.

Messi has made a shocking admission about the aftermath of his Barcelona exit saga during the summer. In a recent interview, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner has called for unity and urged the team to move on.

"After so many disagreements, I would like to bring an end to everything and put aside any differences," Messi told Diario Sport on Tuesday.

At the heat of his conflict with Barca, Messi was evidently frustrated with the club’s management style, pointing a finger to the team’s president Josep Bartomeu, whom he accused of not keeping his word over a discussion about his departure. However, a more optimistic Messi is now ready to fulfill his role and even assured everybody that everything he has done is for the sake of his beloved club.

"I take responsibility for my mistakes and, if there were any, they were only to make Barcelona better and stronger,” the 33-year-old added. "If any fans were annoyed by something that I said or did, let there be no doubt that anything I did was always with the club's best interests in mind."

Bartomeu earlier addressed Messi’s situation at Barcelona. According to the Barca chief, the club has already moved on with the turmoil of Messi’s exit saga. He also cleared the air by emphasizing that he wouldn’t let the best player of his team leave.

“I won’t get into any conflict with him. He’s our captain and the leader of our team,” Bartomeu told Catalan television network TV3 of Messi. “I couldn’t let him leave the club, he is the best player of all time and the team needs him. Having Messi is a guarantee of success.

“We have seen him do his talking on the pitch and we have moved on from the saga,” he continued. “We should congratulate ourselves for getting Messi to stay with us and for how he has behaved in the last few days. The best player in the world should stay at our home."

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, on the other hand, has no doubts about what Messi can bring to the table despite all the drama. The newly-appointed Barca coach has entrusted “Leo” to still lead the team this season.

"He is the best, I have said it many times,” Koeman told BarcaTV+ ahead of the 2020-21 La Liga season. “Messi is a very important player and he has shown it for many years. I hope he can do it again this season."