Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who was linked with a rumoured move to Inter Milan, has denied the reports of him leaving Barcelona. He also quashed the rumours that stated he had paid the bail amount for Ronaldinho to be released from prison in Paraguay.

Messi shared a tweet from a football news portal and singled out the Inter move and Ronaldinho bail money reports as ‘Lie No. 1’ and ‘Lie No.2’ on his Instagram story.

The 31-year-old also dismissed the rumours about him leaving Barcelona and joining his former Argentina club Newell’s Old Boys.

“What they said about Newell’s Old Boys a few weeks ago is also false, thank God no one believed them,” Messi said in an Instagram post.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner also distanced himself from the claims that he helped his former Barca teammate and Brazilian legend Ronaldinho to get out of the prison after he was arrested for travelling to Paraguay with a fake passport.

In actual, the 2002 World Cup winner with Brazil, Ronaldinho, has not received a bail. He has been moved out of the prison and put under a house arrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rumours had started after Barcelona imposed a 70% pay cut on the players to overcome the financial stress caused by stoppage of football due to the global crisis caused by the novel coronavirus.

It was believed that Messi was unhappy with the reduction in his wage.  However, he denied all the rumours and said he and other players were always willing to take the cut. He further volunteered for additional contributions to ensure non-sporting staff receive full salaries.

In a statement, Barca skipper Messi said: “Before going any further, we want to make it clear that we were always willing to reduce our salaries because we understand perfectly that we are in an exceptional situation. We, as players, are always here to help the club when they ask.

“It does not cease to surprise us that from within the club there were those who tried to put us under the magnifying glass and tried to add pressure to do something that we always knew we would do.

“For our party, the moment has arrived that, the cut will be 70 per cent of our wage during the state of alarm. We will also help out the club in order for the workers to be paid 100 per cent of their wages,” the 32-year-old said, as per the BBC.