Lionel Messi's departure from Barcelona was nowhere near problem-free, adding fuel to the fire, Messi reveals Gerard Pique betrayed him amid his final days with the Blaugrana.

Almost three months after his heartbreaking departure from Barcelona, Lionel Messi finally broke his silence on the problematic situation within the gates of Camp Nou. There was an understanding that Barcelona president Joan Laporta hoped Messi would ask the club if he could play for free, but Laporta did not want to ask such a big favor from the club's greatest player of all time.

Leo and his family wanted to stay in Barcelona more than anything and he reveals they were financially capable of taking a bigger pay cut.

Via Tom Sanderson of Forbes:

“I was asked to cut my salary by 50 per cent and I did it without any problem. We were in a position to help the club more. The desire of me and my family was to stay in Barcelona.”

Messi explains further, “Nobody asked me to play for free but at the same time, it seems to me that the words said by the president are out of place.”

Additional to the well-known financial crisis at Barcelona, a shocking truth was revealed about Gerard Pique, who was one of Messi's closest friends at the club. The two players grew up in Barcelona's La Masia, and later on, became captains of Barca—which is why Messi's revelation came as shock. The report was claimed by SPORT's director Lluis Mascaro.

“Messi knows that Pique told Laporta that if Messi left [the club] nothing [bad] would happen”, and a possible falling out between the pair has been picked up on elsewhere.

Even throughout this drama, Messi hopes of returning to the club one day with great hopes of resurrecting the club to its former glory.