Lionel Messi: 'I wouldn’t be better off anywhere else'

Lionel Messi was unambiguous about his future in an interview given to TyCSports, a sports television network based in Argentina.

“I am not tempted to leave FC Barcelona,” he said. “I wouldn’t be better off anywhere else. This is the best team in the world.”

“I battle to win everything each year,” Messi continued. “I don’t need to go anywhere else or to prove anything else.”

Here are the highlights of what else he had to say:

On living in Barcelona:

“It’s the best city in the world, and my children have their friends here. I have no need to change.”

“Barcelona and Argentina are my two loves.”

On whether he considers himself the best player of all-time:

“I don’t play to be the best, or second best, or third best.”

“I like trying to outdo myself year after year.”

“I don’t care about being the best in history. I was never even going for that.”

“I’m only trying to improve.”

On his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo:

“I don’t compete with him. I don’t compete with anyone.”

On Barça’s Champions League elimination versus AS Roma:

“It was a huge mess-up.”

“With the lead that we had, we were practically in the semis—it was a disappointment because we were so close.”

On friend and teammate, Luis Suárez:

“He’s contagious, he runs, he takes pressure off of me, off of everyone.”

“He’s very serious—a family man, and a spectacular person.”

On the chance Neymar could end up playing for Real Madrid:

“It would be terrible seeing him play for Madrid. It would be a hard one to take for everyone, and I told him so.”

On the 2018 World Cup:

“Because of the players they have, [Spain] is the favorite. It’s a better team than Brazil.”