Javier Mascherano has insisted his desire to leave Liverpool has nothing to do with the club; he just wants a change of lifestyle.
Barcelona and Inter Milan have been linked with the 26-year-old in recent weeks and the Argentinean captain has expressed a wish to leave the Merseyside club.
Speaking after Argentina’s 1-0 win over Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night, however, Mascherano insisted that he has nothing against Liverpool football club, but simply wants to live in a different country and experience a different lifestyle.
“The only thing I want to say is I don’t have nothing against the Liverpool supporters, the Liverpool people,†he said in an interview with Sky Sports.
“My problem is not to play for Liverpool. I’m very proud to play for Liverpool. It’s another thing.
“I said to him (new Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson) that maybe for my life I prefer to change the country, not to change the club – that is the fact.
“Sometimes you can see all the things that the papers or the press say, but at the end the only thing I can say is thank you to everyone in Liverpool because they supported me all the time, from the beginning until now,†he added.
