The Barcelona president has opened the door for Lionel Messi’s return to the club. Joan Laporta, in an interview with ESPN, claimed that he feels the Argentine’s story with the Catalans is not yet finished.
Laporta has opened up the possibility of Messi’s future return to FC Barcelona – the club he left in 2020 after 17 years and 778 appearances last summer due to their continued financial struggles. Messi has resumed his career at Paris Saint-Germain as part of a superstar front three of himself, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar.
However, the Argentine has a year left on his current deal in Paris – albeit with an option to extend it by 12 months – and a return to Barcelona is not yet out of the question. That is, according to the Barca club president Laporta.
The 60-year-old confirmed that the club had to let go of their star player because of economic difficulties but that it is his and his team’s responsibility to keep the Argentine’s Barcelona chapter open.
“For Barca, [Messi] has possibly been the best player in history, the most efficient, only comparable to Johan Cruyff in the history of Barca.”
“But it had to happen one day, we had to make a decision as a consequence of the legacy we had received, the institution is above players and coaches.
“I don’t believe Messi’s chapter at Barcelona is over. And I believe it is our responsibility to make sure that chapter is still open, that it hasn’t closed.
“To have a moment to do it how it should have been done so that he may have a much more splendid ending than what he had,”
Laporta said.
Messi struggled to hit the same heights during his first year in the French capital. A slow start to the season drew criticism, while a productive end to the campaign was marred by the club’s UEFA Champions League exit by the midway point. Despite that, he finished with 33 games under his belt in his debut season, scored 11 goals across all competitions, and provided 14 assists.
