Lionel Messi has explained the reason he left Newell’s Old Boys and moved to Barcelona. The Argentina legend revealed that the club kept dodging money they had promised his family for his treatment.
“I started the treatment when I was 11. It was a very expensive treatment. The company where my dad worked covered part of it, but even with that it wasn’t enough because it cost a lot. I remember going to do tests, running a block in the street, coming back, more tests… And from there I began the treatment,” he said while speaking to LUZU TV.
“My mom had to cross Rosario to get the money Newell’s had promised us and many times they gave her only 5 pesos, 10 pesos, or they’d tell her, ‘The person who has to give you the money isn’t here.’ That’s why my mom was so angry with certain people at Newell’s. In the end it wasn’t the club as an institution, it was a specific person who was there at that time. Because of everything that happened, I ended up leaving Newell’s, going to Barcelona, the family split, and life started to be different.”
🚨 BREAKING: This Lionel Messi free kick against Liverpool has officially been voted the greatest free kick ever.
Watch it again and try not to agree 😭🔥pic.twitter.com/muBV8kHzrf
— Arsenal Chizzy (@Arsenal_Chizzyy) January 7, 2026
Goal 151 – Barcelona vs Copenhagen, 2010/11 Champions League. pic.twitter.com/94hCPHN0eF
— Every Lionel Messi Goal in Order (@LeoAllGoals) January 7, 2026
Lionel Messi dribbles before a goalpic.twitter.com/siVqGmSqUM
— JJ🇬🇵 (@jovicism01) January 5, 2026
Goal 150 – Barcelona vs Copenhagen, 2010/11 Champions League. pic.twitter.com/XMlQkKrhjI
— Every Lionel Messi Goal in Order (@LeoAllGoals) January 6, 2026
Still can’t get over this Lionel Messi performance — when he literally said, “I’m not leaving here without scoring, no matter what.” 🐐pic.twitter.com/3lUGYDktov https://t.co/Jl3XKbkbLC
— BigMoh jr (@Koladoskidculer) January 5, 2026
Lionel Messi all goals in 2025 pic.twitter.com/exveTapIJQ
— J. 🇵🇸 (@Messilizer0) December 29, 2025
Asked he would be interested in taking up the coach’s role, Messi denied it.
“I don’t really see myself as a coach. The idea of being a Sporting Director interests me more, but if I have to choose one of the three, what I’d like most is to be a club owner.”
Messi has signed a three-year deal with Inter Milan until 2028.
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