BREAKING: Lionel Messi Annouces That He Will Remain At Barcelona.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has announced that he will remain at Barcelona for next season, despite wanting to leave the Camp Nou, as he didn't want to take the club to court over the issue.

The decision comes just after he had earlier sent a letter to the club on Tuesday, August 25 that he would exercise a clause in his contract which he and his representative claims to allow him to leave the club on a free transfer.

Barca insisted the time had passed for the clause to be activated and that the player would need to pay the €700m release clause in his contract if another club wanted to sign him this summer.

Lionel Messi subsequently revealed in an exclusive interview with Goal on Friday that;

"I'll continue at Barcelona and my attitude won't change, no matter how much I have wanted to go," 

"I told the club, the president, that I wanted to go. I've been telling him all year,' added Messi, referring to Josep Maria Bartomeu.

"I thought my time in Barcelona was over, sadly -- I always wanted to finish my career here."