Lionel Messi Transfer News & Rumors: Barcelona Forward Leaving? Where to Next?

Argentine soccer great Lionel Messi might be bound for somewhere else in the next year.

Yahoo Sports reported that the Barcelona forward stirred conversations after he cited on January 12, 2015 that he did not know where he will be headed to next year.

On January 11, Messi denied talks that he requested coach Luis Enrique to replace him and that he is asking to move to another club. He said, “I haven’t asked for anything to stay here because I have never wanted to go anywhere else.”

This is the first time that the Barca captain answered queries after initial rumors circulated that he had strained relations with coach Enrique. Enrique replaced Gerardo Martino, who was very close to Messi, after the last season.

Messi clarified his relationship with Enrique on Barca TV before the Ballon D’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, was announced. He said, “I never demanded anything to stay, as I have no intention of leaving. It is not good to look for rivalry between Luis Enrique and me, because there is none.”

He added, "We must be more united than ever. They should not throw sh*t at us. We just want to achieve things for the club. It is said that my father spoke with Man City, with Chelsea. It's all lies, it's all lies."

However, a day after the Ballon D’Or Player of the Year ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland, where he was one of the nominees, Messi was asked if he wished to finish his career at Barcelona or in his hometown, Rosario, Argentina.

He answered in a report by Goal, “I'm not sure what's going to happen, whether I'd go to Newell's," he said. "I don't know where I'll be next year although I've always said I want to end my career at Barcelona but...nobody knows what the future holds, especially in the football world where so many things can change overnight."

He said in a report by Independent, “People ask if I am going to carry on playing for Barcelona or return to Newell’s one day and go back to Argentina,” he said. “There is a long way to go. The truth is you get tired of having to clarify everything you say.”

In the same report by Independent, Messi also praised Jose Mourinho, manager of Chelsea. He said, “Mourinho is a great manager. Whether you like him or not as a person, you can’t deny he is a great coach.”

He said about Enrique, “It’s a manager-player relationship, just like any other in the dressing room.”