Lionel Messi explains why he'll join Inter Miami and not Barcelona: 'Some people at the board probably don't want me to return'

Lionel Messi has already made up his mind. With his contract at Paris Saint-Germain set to expire at the end of the month, the Argentine star has decided to continue his career at Inter Miami.

The MLS outfit has been keen on landing the 7x Ballon d’Or for a long time, and David Beckham seized the opportunity that showed up this summer. Barcelona couldn’t complete his return, paving the way for other teams to step in.

Messi had also drawn serious interest from Saudi Arabian outfit Al Hilal, but he turned down their lucrative offer in order to play in the United States. In an interview with Mundo Deportivo and Sport, Messi explained why he decided not to keep on waiting for Barcelona.

Lionel Messi suggests some members of the Barcelona board didn’t want him to return

“Well, I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know if they did everything possible to bring me back or not,” Messi said when asked if he thinks Barcelona really tried to complete his return. “They seemed to had LaLiga’s authorization to make it happen. But that wasn’t it, there were many other things to take care of. The club couldn’t confirm 100% I could return. It’s understandable, because of their situation.

“Probably there are people at the club who don’t want me to return, just like there was people who wanted me to stay when I had to leave. There’s also a lot of people who want me to go back and they showed it publicly. But probably there are people at the board who don’t want me to return, who think my return won’t be good for the club.”

Messi’s bond with Barcelona fans is unbreakable, but it looks like his relationship with the current board is strained. He was forced to leave in 2021, and two years later, they couldn’t guarantee his return after months of flirting with that possibility. Now, it’s time for a fresh start in the US.