BARCELONA: Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Monday the club would “do everything possible” to bring back Argentine superstar Lionel Messi at the end of the season.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker is set to leave this summer when his contract expires and new La Liga champions Barcelona are hoping to land their all-time top scorer, despite strong interest from Saudi Arabia.
Messi had two lackluster seasons in Paris after a glorious time at Barcelona where he won four Champions League titles and 10 La Liga titles, and is still revered by fans there.
Laporta said he spoke with Messi to try to rebuild the relationship between them, which was damaged when he left in 2021.
Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona but the club couldn’t afford to keep him due to over 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in debt.
“I spoke to Leo to kind of redirect a situation that happened, where I had to put the club first, even him, who is the best player in the world,” Laporta told the channel. Catalan regional public television TV3.
“The truth is that it was a very affectionate conversation, very pleasant, and we have also been messaging each other lately – I congratulated him on the World Cup.”
In the early hours of Monday morning after Barcelona won 4-2 at Espanyol to win La Liga, Laporta said on Twitch that “we will do everything we can” to sign Messi.
However, speaking on TV3, he was more cautious.
“He’s a Paris Saint-Germain player and what we’re going to do is improve the team in all areas, we’ve already worked on that,” Laporta said.
“I think it would be a disservice to me to talk about these questions about Leo, because he belongs to a team like Paris Saint-Germain, and we have to wait until the end of the season, until it’s finished. and then we can talk more calmly about it.”
AFP reported last week that sources familiar with the negotiations said it was a ‘done deal’ that Messi would move to Saudi Arabia next season.
However, Laporta said that despite the money on offer in the Middle East – $400m a year – Barcelona could compete for Messi’s signature.
“With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and this is their home,” Laporta added.
“We can compete with everyone. History supports us, feelings are too strong, we also have 400 million fans worldwide.”
Barcelona need to make more than €200m in savings, or new revenue, to be able to operate without restrictions under La Liga’s financial fair play rules.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker is set to leave this summer when his contract expires and new La Liga champions Barcelona are hoping to land their all-time top scorer, despite strong interest from Saudi Arabia.
Messi had two lackluster seasons in Paris after a glorious time at Barcelona where he won four Champions League titles and 10 La Liga titles, and is still revered by fans there.
Laporta said he spoke with Messi to try to rebuild the relationship between them, which was damaged when he left in 2021.
Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona but the club couldn’t afford to keep him due to over 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in debt.
“I spoke to Leo to kind of redirect a situation that happened, where I had to put the club first, even him, who is the best player in the world,” Laporta told the channel. Catalan regional public television TV3.
“The truth is that it was a very affectionate conversation, very pleasant, and we have also been messaging each other lately – I congratulated him on the World Cup.”
In the early hours of Monday morning after Barcelona won 4-2 at Espanyol to win La Liga, Laporta said on Twitch that “we will do everything we can” to sign Messi.
However, speaking on TV3, he was more cautious.
“He’s a Paris Saint-Germain player and what we’re going to do is improve the team in all areas, we’ve already worked on that,” Laporta said.
“I think it would be a disservice to me to talk about these questions about Leo, because he belongs to a team like Paris Saint-Germain, and we have to wait until the end of the season, until it’s finished. and then we can talk more calmly about it.”
AFP reported last week that sources familiar with the negotiations said it was a ‘done deal’ that Messi would move to Saudi Arabia next season.
However, Laporta said that despite the money on offer in the Middle East – $400m a year – Barcelona could compete for Messi’s signature.
“With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and this is their home,” Laporta added.
“We can compete with everyone. History supports us, feelings are too strong, we also have 400 million fans worldwide.”
Barcelona need to make more than €200m in savings, or new revenue, to be able to operate without restrictions under La Liga’s financial fair play rules.
