Football: Delight in Barcelona! Fans welcome Messi's decision to stay

Lionel Messi on Friday announced that he will stay with FC Barcelona for the upcoming season. In a sit-down interview, the 33-year-old declared that he would not get into a legal dispute with the club. The decision ended an impasse over Messi's future after the Argentine star had told Barcelona that he wanted to leave the La Liga club for free at the end of the season. Barcelona wanted the player to finish his contract that runs until the end of 2021. They claimed that the clause invoked by Messi to leave had expired in June and said that he had to pay the buyout clause of 700 million euros ($837 million USD) if he wanted to depart now. There had been no agreement when Messi’s father and Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu met on Wednesday to discuss the player’s future, with Jorge Messi saying his son wanted to leave and Barcelona saying it would not facilitate his transfer.