Three-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi has again reiterated his desire to remain at Barcelona for the rest of his career.
The Argentine superstar, 24, has been in irrepressible form in recent weeks, netting 16 goals in his last five games for club and country including Barca’s second and his 150th in La Liga in their 2-0 win over Sevilla on Saturday night.
That goal has taken Messi to within four of the club’s all-time scoring record held by the legendary Cesar Rodriguez (235) while his recent dazzing displays have again earned him praise from all corners of the footballing world.
It’s perhaps no surprise then, that with life so good for the Rosario born star, has no intention of walking away from Camp Nou appearing to shut the door on a potential move to the England Premier League.
“The truth is my idea has been to always stay in Barcelona and see out the rest of my career here,” he told Sky Sports. “Like I always say, one doesn’t know what can happen in the future but if it were up to me to decide, I would stay at Barcelona for the rest of my career.”
Meanwhile, Messi was also full of praise for this current Barca side, which has won three successive league titles and are in the hunt to become the first team to reclaim their Champions League crown, and believes they are the greatest in the modern era.
“I didn’t see the other great teams that people say have existed throughout history. Mainly because of my age, I wasn’t old enough to have seen the great teams that we are compared with,” he said. “From what I have seen I think it (the current Barca side) is the best, but I can’t really compare (older great teams) as I don’t know enough about the others.”
Messi also reserved a special mention to his boss Pep Guardiola, the man who has guided the club to 13 major trophies in just under four-years in charge of the Catalan giants.
“Since Guardiola’s arrival, he has made the team play this way. When he arrived he made me play higher up, closer to the goal in order for me to score more goals which, until his arrival, I hadn’t done on a regular basis.
“He made us prepare better in training and for games, making it seem that every game was a final. He prepares everything with his vision when the games are played and everything he does shows he is the best coach in the world.”
