Lionel Messi unsure about Barcelona future after losing out in the Ballon d’Or race to Cristiano Ronaldo. (Source: Reuters)

A day after denying rumors he was considering leaving Barcelona, Lionel Messi cast new doubts about his future at the club on Monday.

Messi said at the awards ceremony for the FIFA BAllon d’Or that he doesn’t know whether he’ll be back at Barcelona next season. He made the comment after being asked whether he’d consider returning to his boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys at some point.

Messi said in Spanish that “I am not sure if I will go back to Newell’s Old Boys one day,” adding that “I am not sure where I will be next year. I have always said I want to end my career at Barcelona but as Cristiano (Ronaldo) said: ‘Only God knows the future’. Especially in football where things can change overnight.”

On Sunday, Messi told Barcelona’s in-house TV channel that he had no intention of leaving.