BARCELONA.- The legend of Barcelona, Xavi Hernandezassured in an interview with the newspaper La Vanguardia that the president of the club, Joan Laportathwarted the return of the myth Lionel Messi in 2023 to avoid a power struggle.
The eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or He left Barça to sign for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 and two years later he left for Inter Miami of the MLSyour current team.
“Leo was signed. In January 2023, after becoming world champion (with Argentinain December 2022), we contacted him and he told me that he was looking forward to returning and I saw it. We spoke until the month of March and I told him, well, when you give me the OK, I will tell the president because I see it from a football perspective,” Xavi explained on Sunday in La Vanguardia.
“A ‘last dance’ like that of (Michael) Jordan… The president began to negotiate the contract with Leo’s father and we had the green light to LaLigabut it is the president who throws everything back,” he continued.
Xavi, Messi’s former teammate for more than a decade at Barcelona, pointed to Laporta as the culprit for the Argentine not returning to the club.
“Laporta told me, word for word, that if Leo returned he was going to declare war on him and that he couldn’t allow it. And suddenly Leo stopped responding to my calls because they had told him that it couldn’t be done,” he said.
Laporta’s response
Laporta, who resigned as president several days ago to run for re-election this week, suggested this Monday that Xavi was resentful of having fired him in May 2024 and claimed that Messi’s father and representative, Jorge, had told him that the star had decided not to return.
“With Xavi I saw that we were going to lose and with (current coach Hansi) Flick that we were going to win,” Laporta summarized in a presidential debate this Monday before the other candidate, Victor Fontin Sunday’s presidential elections.
“I understand that (Xavi) is hurt: with the same players, Flick wins,” Laporta added.
The Barça president explained that he sent a contract to Jorge Messiwho later went to his house and told him that “there would be too much pressure” if the forward returned.
Messi is Barcelona’s all-time top scorer, with 672 goals, and won a record 34 titles with the club at the Camp Nou.
Furthermore, Laporta stated that Barça rejected a 250 million euro ($288 million) offer from PSG for the young superstar. Lamine Yamalwhich would have been presented in 2024.
