Lionel Messi in no rush to decide Barcelona future and reveals plan to play in the United States

In an interview with Spanish TV, 33-year-old Argentine insists he will not be leaving Camp Nou in January but has made no decision on his long-term future

Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring Barcelona's third goal against Valladolid on December 22, his 644th to move him past Pele for the most goals scored for a single club. AFP

Lionel Messi scores Barcelona's third goal and his 644th, breaking the record set by Pele for scoring the most goals for one single club. Reuters

Lionel Messi celebrates scoring Barcelona's third goal with teammates. Reuters

Lionel Messi celebrates with Pedri after scoring Barcelona's third goal. AFP

Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring Barcelona's third goal against Valladolid. AFP

Lionel Messi celebrates scoring Barcelona's third goal. Reuters

Lionel Messi shoots to score Barcelona's third goal. Reuters

Real Valladolid midfielder Joaquin Fernandez challenges Lionel Messi. AFP

Lionel Messi reacts after missing a chance to score. Reuters

Lionel Messi misses a chance to score. Reuters

Lionel Messi in action with Real Valladolid's Nacho. Reuters

Lionel Messi sees a chance go wide of the post. AFP

Lionel Messi maintains he is in no rush to decide his future at Barcelona and has revealed that he would like to play in the US before finishing his career.

The Argentine has yet to make up his mind if he will terminate his two-decade long relationship with Barca at the end of the season.

His current deal existing deal expires at the end of this campaign, meaning he can begin negotiations with overseas clubs in January.

Messi has been linked with a move to Premier League side Manchester City, who are managed by his former Camp Nou coach Pep Guardiola. He won three La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues in his four seasons under the Catalonian.

And the 33-year-old fuelled speculation that reunion might be on the cards when he described himself as "lucky" to have played under Guardiola, who has just signed a new deal to remain at City until at least 2023.

Speaking to Spanish TV channel La Sexta, though, Messi also insisted that he was "excited" to play under manager Ronald Koeman this season, despite trying last summer to leave the club where he has played his entire senior career.

"Barca is my life, I'm in love with the club. And the city, my children were born here," Messi, who has just broken Pele's record for most goals scored for a single club, said in the interview conducted earlier this month.

"It's true I had a bad time in the summer. It came from everything that happened before the summer, how the season ended, the burofax [how Messi communicated his desire to leave], all of that. I carried that into the start of the season a little bit."

Messi dismissed suggestions of exercising his option of a free transfer in the summer, insisting: "Far from it – my plan is to give all I can for the club at the moment. Right now, the most important thing is to focus on the team and finish the season well, to focus on trying to win trophies and not get distracted by other things.

"I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I'm going to wait until the season ends.

"I would like to play in the United States and experience life and the league there, but ultimately come back to Barcelona in some capacity.

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"I don't see myself as a coach, perhaps a sporting director to hire players I want or that the club that I'm at needs."

Messi's commitment is a far cry from the summer when he looked certain to leave the club after falling out with the club hierarchy and branding Josep Maria Bartomeu's presidency a "disaster".

Ultimately, Messi claimed he decided not to pursue a legal battle to leave out of respect for the club, but reiterated the depth of his feelings about Bartomeu's reign at the time.

"It was far from easy for me to say I wanted to leave the club and the city ... but I genuinely felt it was time to go," said Messi.

"I felt I'd completed a cycle and it was time to leave the club that had given me so much.

"I wanted to win titles and battle for the Champions League and felt it was time for change. The president then started to filter this and that to paint a negative picture of me."

Bartomeu stepped down in October and a new president will be elected on January 24, although Messi said he is under no illusions over the position Barca find themselves in, with the financial problems exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

"I know the club is going through a difficult period and that makes everything surrounding Barcelona difficult, but I am motivated," he said.

He described Barca's situation as "really bad" and poured scorn on the idea that Neymar could make a shock return to Catalonia. "To do that you need money, and there is no money. Neymar would cost a lot," Messi said.