Sergio Agüero: Lionel Messi kept Barcelona shirt in the hotel hoping to pose for renewal photo

Sergio Agüero has revealed that Lionel Messi kept his FC Barcelona shirt at his hotel during his time with Argentina, hoping to take a picture with it to announce his renewal with his boyhood club.

Of course, that renewal never came. He signed with Paris Saint-Germain instead after being informed his lifelong club was not able to afford him.

Agüero had signed for Barcelona and thus finally united with his friend and compatriot at club level... or so it seemed.

He has revealed that Messi excited about signing his new deal and wanted to take a picture to commemorate it as soon as possible.

“We were at Copa América, and he had the Barcelona shirt in the hotel room. Every three or four days, he would tell me, ‘well, it looks like I have renewed. You’ll have to take a picture of me with the Barça shirt.’ And I would tell him, ‘okay, let’s go.’ He would tell me, ‘we’ll do it in the afternoon.’ Then he would tell me, ‘no, no, not yet.’ Then, two days later, he would say, ‘now for sure, the photo’ and get the Barcelona shirt,” the forward said on Spanish TV.

Agüero said that the reason Messi did not renew his deal was beyond his control.

“He acts according to the decisions made by those who are in charge of his contract, like any player,” Agüero said.

“The truth is known by the people who really are there in those negotiations. And the player is not there in those negotiations. I don’t sit down to negotiate my contract, when I did that with Manchester City. I don’t know what they say, or what happens in that moment. Players have to believe what they are told, and sadly, it’s like that with every player. For some it goes poorly, for some it goes well.”