Barcelona legend Lionel Messi has admitted that he was surprised to learn about Inter Miami teammate Jordi Alba's retirement. He said that it was strange as they were not expecting it, while Sergio Busquets's decision was on the expected lines.
In a conversation with Sport, Messi said it was sad to see Alba retire, not because he would mss playing with the star defender, but also because they are friends off the pitch. He signaled that the surprise retirement made evaluate his future and said:
"The truth is, it was very strange, especially Jordi's situation, because we weren't expecting it. With Busi, we'd been talking about it more, and he'd already been analysing it and talking about it. But with Jordi, it was from one day to the next; we weren't expecting it. He caught us one day in the locker room and told us he was going to announce it, that he was retiring, without having spoken about it or discussed it beforehand. It was from one day to the next for us, and it was more surprising."
"It's a shame because beyond what we enjoyed on the pitch, we're also friends. We started this challenge of coming to Miami together from the beginning. Well, you also see that there's less, and less time left, and the moment is getting closer to everything, also because we're from the same generation, we did our whole careers together, and being able to share the last few years together was also very nice."
Lionel Messi has at least three years before retirement after signing a new deal at Inter Miami, which keeps him at the club until 2028.
When Lionel Messi wanted to return to Barcelona in 2023
In an interview with Argentine journalist Quique Wolff, Lionel Messi revealed that he wanted to make a comeback to Barcelona after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) came to an end in 2023. He spent two seasons at the French club, but wanted to leave after his contract expired. He said:
“I had the intention of returning to Barcelona and being able to go back to a place I always wanted to be, but it was not possible again. After that, it became a family decision. The fact that we won the World Cup also had a big impact. I was clear that I didn’t want to be at another team in Europe, I didn’t want to go to any of them.”
After his return to the Spanish side, Messi opted to sign for MLS side Inter Miami, where he currently plays. Since then, La Pulga has often expressed his wish to return to the club in one way or another as he never had the chance to say goodbye to the fans.