Messi mending fences
Lionel Messi called for "an end" to arguments at Barcelona as he urged unity at the club he tried to leave before the season.
The Barcelona captain spoke to Catalan newspaper Sport in an interview published online late on Tuesday.
"After so many disagreements, I would like to put an end to it," said Messi. "We must unite all Barcelona's people and assume that the best is yet to come."
The departure of his friend Luis Suarez to Atletico Madrid did not go down well with Messi, at least not the way it happened, with the club backing down on a promise he could go for free when they realised he was joining a direct rival. "I just said what I felt in what was a difficult moment for me," Messi told Sport.
Messi's reaction, posted on Instagram, drew criticism. Some thought it was excessive for him to go in on the board and president Josep Maria Bartomeu once again. Bartomeu has never responded to Messi's accusations in a bid to calm the crisis. Now, Messi has taken a step back:
"I understand people may have thought I should have shut up or let it go, as I did on many other occasions, but a lot of things hurt me in the last few weeks and it was my way of expressing that."
Messi referred to his attempt to force Barcelona to release him from the final year of his contract after the disastrous end to last season left the club without a trophy.
"I take responsibility for my mistakes, that, if they existed, were only to make a better and stronger FC Barcelona," said the Argentine. "I wanted to send a message to all the club members and to all the fans. If any of them is bothered for a second by something I said or did, they should never doubt that I am always thinking about what is best for the club."
"Adding passion and desire will be the only way to achieve our objectives, always united and pulling in the same direction," said Messi.
"Whoever knows me knows that I am not capable of playing any way other than always to win, and giving everything on the pitch. It was like that throughout my career and that is not going to change. Today my commitment to this shirt and this badge is total, it is still intact."
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