Messi is set to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer when his contract expires, and Barcelona, crowned Spanish champions, are hoping to reunite with their all-time top scorer, despite strong interest from Saudi Arabia.
Laporta said he spoke with the 35-year-old, in an attempt to restore the relationship between them, which was damaged when he left ‘Camp Nou’ in 2021.
And Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona, but the club couldn’t keep him due to his debts, which amounted to more than a billion euros.
Laporta told Catalonia’s regional public television channel TV3:
“I spoke to Leo in a way to correct the situation that arose, in which I had to advance the club at the expense of everything, even the best player in the world.” “The truth is that it was a very moving, very interesting conversation.” “We’ve been texting each other recently. I congratulated him on the World Cup.” “I think it would be offensive for me to talk about (the return of) Leo because he belongs to a team like Paris Saint-Germain. We have to wait until the end of the season for his contract to expire and then we can talk. – more calmly.” “Barcelona can compete for the signing of Messi. With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barcelona is Barcelona, and this is their home.” “We can compete with everyone. The story backs us up and the feelings are very strong, and we also have 400 million fans around the world.”
And in the early hours of Monday morning, after Barcelona beat Espanyol 4-2 to officially clinch the La Liga title, Laporta said: “We will do our best” to sign Messi.
But, speaking to ‘TV3’, Laporta was more cautious as he considered Messi still to belong to Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona need more than €200m in savings or new revenue, so they can operate without restrictions under the Spanish League’s Financial Fair Play rules.
Read the Latest World News Today on The Eastern Herald.
