Messi says he was never asked to play for Barcelona for free

Lionel Messi has insisted that he was never asked to play for Barcelona for free, and admitted to being hurt by Joan Laporta’s comments on his exit.

Messi, 34, joined PSG on a free transfer in the summer, but Barca’s president Laporta suggested, after Messi’s departure, that the Argentine could have stayed at the club if he had been willing to go without a weekly pay.

“I hoped Messi would do a U-turn and he would say he would play for free,” Laporta told RAC1 in October

“I would have liked that and I would have been all for it. It is my understanding La Liga would have accepted it. But we cannot ask a player of Messi’s stature to do this.”

Messi has now hit back, saying Laporta’s words “were out of place,” adding that he and his family desired to stay in Barcelona.

“The truth is that, as I explained on my way out, I did everything possible to stay, never at any time was I asked to play for free,” the 34-year-old told Sport.

“I was asked to cut my salary by 50 per cent and I did it without any problem. We were in a position to help the club more. The desire of me and my family was to stay in Barcelona.

“Nobody asked me to play for free but at the same time, it seems to me that the words said by the president are out of place. They hurt me because I think he doesn’t need to say that, it’s like getting the ball off you and not assuming its consequences, or taking charge of things.

“This makes people think or generates a type of doubt that I think I do not deserve.”