Lionel Messi Discusses Barcelona Transfer Request, Luis Suarez's Exit, More

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi appeared on La Sexta and spoke on a number of topics, from his commitment to Barcelona through the end of the season to his future in football. 

Messi told journalist Jordi Evole that he doesn't intend to request a transfer in January, but that he would be opting out of his contract with Barcelona at the end of the season (h/t Dermot Corrigan of The Athletic):  

"I want to wait until the season is over. Just thinking about ending season well, winning trophies, not getting involved in anything else. ... I will do what is best for me and for the club - with my heart and my head. When I finish as a player I want to come back and live in Barcelona, to have some role at the club. ... I've always had the dream of playing in another league, in the United States. Maybe it will happen, doesn't have to be right away. Today I am just focused on these next six months."

Messi also said that former president Josep Maria Bartomeu had misled him many times and leaked things through the media to make him look bad. The Argentine had been telling Bartomeu for six months that he wanted to leave before the summer's showdown when Messi tried to leave the club. 

But he said he feels more settled at Barcelona after a tumultuous summer, though he wasn't shy about pointing out the issues at the club.

"These days I am feeling well. I had a really bad time last summer with the Burofax and all that, and before. But now I feel good, excited to fight for everything in front of us. But club going through difficult moment, team too, everything around Barca is difficult. ... I know that things at Barca are really, really bad. It will be difficult to get back to where we were."

One of the decisions that Messi said bothered him was the club's decision to move on from Luis Suarez, who ended up with Atletico Madrid.

"It was crazy to let Luis Suarez leave for free, to pay up two years of his contract, and to go to a rival fighting for same things as Barca," he said (h/t Corrigan).

To the delight of Manchester City fans, Messi also spoke about Pep Guardiola, who he worked with previously at Barca:

"I speak with Pep, about how things are going at City, what things are like there. But not about working together again. Don't know when we last spoke. ... Pep is the best for how he prepared games, offensively and defensively, how I had to attack to win games. I thought after Pep I knew everything, but then Luis Enrique came and taught me even more new things."

Messi did praise his current manager, Ronald Koeman, however.

"With Koeman things became more serious, there was an idea for the team and the club," he said (h/t Corrigan). "He was a very good appointment; it was difficult with new players and youngsters, but the team is improving."

It sure sounds like Messi's time at Barcelona is winding to a close. Whether the 33-year-old winds up at Man City or another club, it will be strange to see Messi in a new kit. The legendary forward has spent his entire career with Barcelona. 

But he's not wrong when he says the club are in a transition period. The club finds itself in fifth place on the La Liga table, eight points behind Atletico Madrid (which also has a game in hand). It was something Messi saw coming before the season.

"I knew it would not be easy to leave the club of my life, would not be easy anywhere else, new city, new climate. My family didn't want to leave," he said (h/t Corrigan). "But I felt it was best in that moment for everyone—for me, the club, the cycle was over."