Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi keeps the exit from FC Barcelona open in the summer. “I don’t know if I’m going. But – in theory – if I do, I want to do it in the best way possible,” the 33-year-old, who has been with Barcelona since he was 13, said in an interview published by Sunday on La Sexta TV.

When asked which club would interest him, Messi answered elusively. He said, “I focus on what we can do in these six months.” Messi also confirmed rumors that he would be tempted to move to the United States. “I’ve always said that I wanted to play in the United States, and I wanted to enjoy the experience of living there and learning about the league.” The star striker said, “But I don’t know if it will happen that way.”

“Ultimately, however,” Messi will return to Barcelona. “I will go back to town to work and contribute to the club.” The Argentine said his relationship with FC Barcelona and the Catalan city was a “love story”. Whatever happens it will not change for him. When asked about his future as an active player after the end of his career, Messi said he does not see himself as a coach, but “perhaps as a sports director.”

In the summer Messi tried in vain to leave his long-running club, whose president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who has since resigned, had “cheated on him for many years and for years”. The transfer fee, which according to unconfirmed media reports, should have been € 700 million, which no club could or would have paid. The current contract expires in June and Messi will be free without a transfer payment. From January he will be allowed to hold talks with potential buyers.

From: APA / dpa / Reuters