Struggling to control his emotions, Lionel Messi said Sunday in his farewell to Barcelona that he wasn’t prepared to leave the club.

Messi began crying even before he started speaking at his farewell ceremony at the Camp Nou Stadium.

“This is very hard for me after so many years, after being here my entire life,” he said. “I wasn’t prepared.”

Messi called his unexpected departure from the club “the most difficult” moment of his career.

Messi’s family and some of his teammates were at Camp Nou for the player’s farewell.

Messi avoided speaking specifically about his future, saying he received offers from several clubs after the announcement that he would leave the Catalan club.

Barcelona announced Thursday it could not keep its greatest player because it wasn’t able to fit a new contract within the Spanish league’s financial fair-play regulations. The club’s salary cap has been significantly slashed because of its huge debt. President Joan Laporta blamed the club’s struggles on the coronavirus pandemic and particularly on the previous administration led by Josep Bartomeu.