President Joan Laporta wants Lionel Messi (35) to return to FC Barcelona. It remains to be seen when.
“Messi was everything,” Laporta said in an “ESPN” interview about the Argentine’s importance to the Catalan club. “For Barça he was probably the greatest player, the most efficient. For me, he can only be compared to Johan Cruyff.” That Messi had nevertheless announced his departure from Barcelona in the summer of 2021 after 21 years “had to happen one day”, Laporta said.
If the Barça boss has his way, however, it should not be a permanent farewell. “I hope that the Messi chapter is not closed,” Laporta clarified. “It is our responsibility to find a moment to repair this chapter – one that is open and not closed. And to do it in such a way that it ends as it should. So that it has a more beautiful ending. “
While he had “done what I had to do” around the departure of the current PSG player, “As Barça president and also on a personal level, I owe him.”
Laporta left open when the return would take place – and whether it would happen during Messi’s active career. The attacker’s contract with Paris St Germain runs until 2023, when he would be 36 years old. Most recently, the MLS club Inter Miami had also flirted with a transfer.
