Lionel Messi claims he did not realise what a commotion his comment that “I don’t know where I’ll be next year” had caused.
The Argentine, speaking at a Press conference ahead of the FIFA 2014 Ballon d’Or award, appeared to hint his future may lie away from Barcelona next season.
However, interviewed by reporters in the mixed zone following the ceremony in Zurich, he said he was unaware of the furore after being asked by a journalist if he would be at Juventus next year, before winding his career down at Newell’s Old Boys.
“I’ve only just found out, so I can’t say too much about it because people will draw their own conclusions,” said Messi.
“I’m not thinking of leaving or anything like that. I said that in football you never know what will happen in the future.
“Now at Barcelona we’ll be trying to reverse last season’s situation, when it was very hard for me both personally and professionally.”
Messi reiterated that Cristiano Ronaldo winning the Ballon d’Or was thoroughly deserved.