Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed a souring of his and the club’s relationship with Lionel Messi when he left Catalonia in 2021 but insisted that those tensions have since been put to bed.
Laporta was at the helm of Barcelona when Messi was first given his senior debut by the Catalans two decades ago, forming a strong working relationship with the Argentine maestro as he rapidly established himself as the greatest player ever to turn out for the club. Laporta stepped down from his post in 2010 before returning 11 years later to find his boyhood team mired in financial issues.
A swollen wage bill—inflated by the record-breaking sums Messi was earning as well as with the enormous salary banked by a glut of ageing stars in a bloated squad—had tipped Barcelona onto the brink of economic chaos. The COVID pandemic which cut off the supply of matchday revenue tipped Barcelona over the edge, ultimately forcing Laporta to let Messi’s contract expire in June 2021.
Messi, who had pushed to leave the club one year earlier only to be denied by the previous regime, conducted a tearful farewell press conference announcing his exit. It has now been revealed that the legendary forward was unimpressed with the board’s conduct at that time.
“We’ve had a very good relationship for a long time,” Laporta insisted on the Catalan outlet 3cat this week. “When we didn’t renew his contract, it went a bit sour. And then we more or less recovered.”
Laporta had repeatedly promised to do everything in his power to keep Messi at the club that summer. However, some inside Barcelona questioned the sincerity of that public stance. Jaume Llopis, a member of the Espai Barça Commission at the time, resigned from his post at the club after Messi was allowed to leave.
“There were 25 days left and I don’t think everything that could have been done has been done,” he fumed. “There was no real will to negotiate Messi’s future.”
Joan Laporta Offers Lionel Messi an Olive Branch
While Laporta insists that everything has been patched up with Messi, he’s still keen to get in the playmaker’s good books. The Catalan president took the time to underscore his plans to give the Inter Miami captain the send-off he didn’t receive back in 2021. “We’re confident we can pay him the great tribute he deserves,” Laporta declared.
The club chief has previously revealed discussions with Messi’s family about a commemorative event at Camp Nou. Barcelona’s stadium—which is still awaiting the necessary permits to host its first matches after renovations—needs to be approved before any tribute match can be confirmed, but the club are confident of staging such an event.
“Leo Messi’s tribute at Camp Nou must take place when the stadium is 100% finished,” Barcelona vice-president Elena Fort proclaimed back in June. “I think that in the summer of 2026, we will be able to say that the stadium is finished.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Sour’—Barcelona President Drops Lionel Messi Revelation About Club Exit.
