Messi admits failed Barcelona exit affected his form this season

Disappointment over an unsuccessful attempt to leave Barcelona last summer had a negative effect on Lionel Messi coming into the new season, the Argentine superstar admitted.

“Everything that happened before the summer, how the season ended, then the burofax and everything else … I dragged everything into the start of the season a bit,” Messi told Spanish television channel La Sexta, as translated by Reuters.

“The truth is right now I’m feeling fine but in the summer I had a very bad time.”

Messi – who equaled Pele’s scoring record with a single club by getting his 643rd for Barca over the weekend – sent shockwaves through the football world when it emerged in August that he wanted to engineer a move away from the Camp Nou.

He eventually agreed to stay for the 2020-21 campaign in order to avoid a legal battle after outgoing president Josep Maria Bartomeu blocked his departure.

But after ending last season with over 30 goals, Messi experienced a dip in form this term, scoring just nine goals in all competitions without providing a single assist in La Liga.

With his contract set to expire next summer, Messi will be free to negotiate with other teams in January.

Barcelona have also struggled this season and sit eight points back of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.