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Messi vows to stay at his "home" Barcelona this summer

Leo Messi has vowed to stay with Barcelona this summer - despite his recent dispute with the Cata...



Messi vows to stay at his
Soccer

Messi vows to stay at his "home" Barcelona this summer

Leo Messi has vowed to stay with Barcelona this summer - despite his recent dispute with the Catalan club's sporting director Eric Abidal.

The six-time world player of the year has a clause in his contract which would have allowed him to leave at the end of the current season.

But the Argentine forward says he wants to continue his career with the Spanish champions.

"I have said many times that my idea is (to stay) and as long as the club continue to want that, there will never be a problem," the 32-year-old told El Mundo Deportivo in a two-part interview.

"I want to win another Champions League, I want to continue winning LaLiga and I always aspire to that.

"I have always had the choice, there were many interested clubs willing to pay the release clause, but it never occurred to me to leave and does not now either. I love Barcelona, this is my home."

Messi also feels Barca are still adapting to life under their new head-coach Quique Setien:

"We are going through a process of changing coaches. Each one has his own ideas and little by little we adapt to what he wants," he said.

"It is true that for many moments in games we play backwards - that makes people nervous because at any moment the opposition can take it away from us and score a goal. There are other things - trying to press after losing the ball, things we had lost a little.

"That is a process and we are assimilating. People are disturbed but it is normal with the changes and because we are not playing well either, but you have to be calm and trust until the end.

"In the Champions League we have to continue growing a lot, because what we have now is not enough to fight for the Champions League. We need to be more reliable, not make the silly mistakes we have made, and not to repeat what happened to us in Rome or Liverpool.

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