The Barcelona star man was in his usal scntillating form against Atletico Madrid last night, and angrily dismissed talks of a move to the Premier League
Lionel Messi has dismissed talks about a switch to the English Premier League, amid crises that rocked the Barcelona camp, and speculated that the Argentine wants to quit the Spanish giants after falling out with Manager Luis Enrique. Information Nigeria understands.
The 27-year old was left out of Barcelona’s La Liga encounter against Real Sociedad, which they lost because of an own goal by Jordi Alba. Messi was reportedly furious about the snub and subsequently missed the next training session due to a ‘’Stomach bug’’. However recent revelations believed that the four time Ballon d’or winner was angry about being benched and boycotted training deliberately.
Coach Enrique was vexed about the 27-year old absence from training and wanted to fine Messi for Monday’s no-show, but was begged by Xavi Hernandez to ignore the plan.
Despite the actives behind the scene, Messi has returned to action, and was influential for Barcelona as they beat Aletico Madrid to keep pace with Real Madrid at the top of the standings.
Speaking to the press after the game, he also launched a mild scathing attack to rumors linking him out of his boy-hood club:
“I don’t demand anything for me to stay because I have no intention of leaving anywhere,” he told Barca TV.
“I’ve heard stories I’ve spoken to Chelsea or City, that’s all lies.”
He added: “I’ve heard so many things. There have been things said in the past that I have bad relationships with (Pep) Guardiola, (Samuel) Eto’o, Bojan, Ibra (Zlatan Ibrahimovic), that’s not true.
“I never asked for them to get rid of the coach or anybody. That’s not true, I would never do that.
“It’s a bit bad because the stories came from here in Barcelona from people who are supposed to be supporters of
the club, not from Madrid as in other times, people who want to damage the club.
“More than ever we have to be united
“They try to make out that I run the club, I’m just another player in the squad like my team-mates. I don’t make decisions, I don’t want to make decisions.”
Messi was the orchestrator for his team against title-rivals Atletico infront of a packed Nou-camp crowd.
He helped create Neymar’s opener and Luis Suarez’s goal before half-time, before getting his name on the scoresheet for the third.