Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi, was ready to leave for Manchester City in the summer of 2016, following his punishment for tax fraud.
Spanish publication, Mundo Deportivo, reports that Messi decided to leave the Camp Nou.
City were reportedly ready to pay €150million (£132.4million) for the Argentina captain, but Messi was eventually talked out of leaving Barca by his team-mate Luis Suarez.
Last year, Messi and his father, Jorge, were found guilty of three counts of tax fraud. Between 2007 and 2009, Messi and father failed to pay tax authorities €4.1million (£3.5m), which was tax on image rights earnings.
Jorge Messi absolved his son of any wrongdoing, with the 28-year-old claiming he did not “read the documents, only sign them.”
The court ordered Messi to pay a fine of around £1.7m and his father to pay £1.27m.
Comments