According to Laporta, Barca would "do everything possible" to sign Messi.
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Barcelona president Joan Laporta declared on Monday that the team will “do everything possible” to re-sign Argentine superstar Lionel Messi during the off-season.
The attacker from Paris Saint-Germain is expected to leave when his contract ends in the summer, and Barcelona, the current La Liga champions, are trying to entice their all-time leading scorer back despite intense interest from Saudi Arabia.
After a spectacular period at Barcelona, when he won four Champions League and 10 La Liga crowns and is still revered by the fans there, Messi has had two underwhelming seasons in Paris.
In an effort to mend the friendship between them that was harmed when he departed in 2021, Laporta claimed he has talked with Messi.
Messi desired to remain at Barcelona, but the team’s debt of more than one billion euros prevented them from affording to do so.
Laporta said to regional public television station TV3 in Catalonia, “I have spoken to Leo to somehow redirect a situation that occurred, in which I had to put the club ahead of everything, even him, who is the best player in the world.”
The reality is that we had a really warm and nice interaction, and I congratulated him on winning the World Cup in a message we had recently exchanged.
After Barcelona defeated Espanyol 4-2 to claim La Liga on Sunday night, Laporta declared on Twitch that “we will do everything possible” to sign Messi.
Speaking to TV3, he was more circumspect.
He is a player for Paris Saint-Germain, and we have already worked on improving the team overall, according to Laporta.
Because Leo plays for a team like Paris Saint-Germain, “I think it would do me a disservice to talk about these questions about Leo, and we have to wait until the end of the season until it is over before we can talk more calmly about this.”
According to insiders with direct knowledge of the talks, Messi’s relocation to Saudi Arabia for the upcoming campaign was a “done deal” last week, as reported by AFP.
Laporta asserted that Barcelona could compete for Messi’s services despite the alleged 400 million dollars in annual compensation on offer in the Middle East.
“With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and it is his home,” said Laporta.
We are capable of competing with anyone. History is on our side, the emotions are too powerful, and we have 400 million supporters worldwide.
Barcelona must generate over 200 million euros in additional revenue or savings in order to be exempt from constraints under La Liga’s financial fair play regulations.
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