After it was confirmed that Frank Rijkaard will leave FC Barcelona at the end of the current season and Pep Guardiola will take over, Lionel Messi had some words for the Dutch coach, who brought him into the club’s senior squad:

I’m very grateful to Frank Rijkaard. He has done a great job at Barça. The problems we’ve had clearly weren’t all his fault. The fans gave him the farewell he deserved yesterday at the Camp Nou

Messi also reflected on Barça’s disappointing performance this season:

It hasn’t been a good year for us; we aimed to contend for all the trophies and we couldn’t get any of them in the end. After two trophyless seasons in a row, we are obviously affected

The Argentine forward commented on the recent rumours regarding Chelsea’s interest in signing him:

I’m very happy at Barcelona. If there is any truth to all those speculations, all I can say is I am grateful and proud to know that a big club like Chelsea may be interested in me

Finally, Lionel confirmed that he will be playing for Argentina in the Olympic Games this summer:

I have talked to Barcelona and everything has been settled, I will be in Beijing to play the Olympics