Following the announcement by Barcelona that Lionel Messi, their undisputed star for close to 15 years, would be leaving the club this summer, the man himself conducted a press conference on Sunday during which he tearfully confirrmed his departure.
Messi is regarded by many as on a very small shortlist for the greatest footballer of all time, alongside contemporary rival Cristiano Ronaldo as well as old-timey legends Pele, Johan Cruyff and his compatriot Diego Maradona.
At the conference, the forward echoed the club's claims that La Liga's rules and regulations made Messi remaining in Spain untenable.
“It’s everything that Laporte said," explained Messi. "We had everything agreed but, at the last minute, it couldn’t happen.
"This is the end of my journey at the club, and that is the hardest thing.
“I’ve always been very honest. Last year I wanted to leave, this year I wanted to stay. That’s why I am so sad.
"I’ve heard lots of things being said about me, this year I wanted to stay and I couldn’t. Last year I didn’t want to stay, and I said it.
"This year I wanted to stay. I did everything possible but the club couldn’t do it because of La Liga. We have to take it and move forward.
“I offered to drop my wage by 50 per cent and Barcelona asked for nothing more. It was agreed but it wasn’t to be.
"The report that I asked for more money is a lie. As I said, I didn’t everything I could to stay. A lot of the things that people are saying are not true."
When Paris Saint-Germain was brought up, Messi kept his responses vague. Nonetheless, PSG are the strong favourites to land the 34-year-old's services.
“That is one possibility," he said of the Ligue 1 side. "I had a lot of calls after the press release but nothing has been confirmed at the moment. We are talking about lots of things.”