Laporta: Barcelona will “do the impossible” to bring Messi back

Barcelona President Joan Laporta said Monday that the club will “do everything possible” to bring back its historic Argentine star, Lionel Messi, this summer.

Messi is scheduled to leave Paris Saint-Germain in the summer when his contract expires, and Barcelona, ​​who are crowned champions of the Spanish League, hopes to regain their historic top scorer, despite the strong interest from Saudi Arabia.

Laporta indicated that he had spoken with Messi to try to restore the relationship between them, which was damaged when he left the “Camp Nou” in 2021.

Messi wanted to stay in Barcelona, ​​​​but the club was unable to keep him due to his debts, which amounted to more than one billion euros ($1.1 billion).

“I spoke to Leo in a way to re-correct the situation that happened, in which I had to put the club ahead at the expense of everything, even the best player in the world,” Laporta told regional Catalan public broadcaster TV3.

“The truth is it was a very emotional conversation, very interesting, and we’ve been sending messages to each other recently – I congratulated him on the World Cup.”

And in the early hours of Monday morning, after Barcelona beat Espanyol 4-2 to officially clinch the La Liga title, Laporta spoke on Twitch that “we will do our best” to sign Messi.

But speaking to TV3, Laporta was more cautious. As he considered that Messi is “a player in Paris Saint-Germain, and what we will do is improve the team in all areas, we have already worked on that.”

He added, “I think it would be offensive for me to talk about these questions about Leo, because he belongs to a team like Paris Saint-Germain, and we have to wait until the end of the season, until his contract expires, and then we can talk more calmly about this.”

But Laporta said that despite the huge financial offer from the Middle East – estimated at $ 400 million per season – Barcelona can compete for Messi’s signature, “With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barcelona is Barcelona, ​​and it is his home.”

“We can compete with everyone. History supports us, the feelings are very strong, and we have 400 million fans around the world as well.”

Barcelona needs more than 200 million euros ($218 million) in savings or new income to be able to operate without restrictions under La Liga’s financial fair play rules.