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Nieuws
- 1 hour ago
Laporta risks Messi wrath with ‘no regrets’ claim over icon’s Barcelona exit
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 12 Nov 2025 05:39 CST
- 5 min read
Nieuws
Lionel Messi’s Barcelona departure has left president Joan Laporta with “no regrets” over the situation.
Messi bid a tearful farewell to his boyhood club in the summer of 2020, when Barca were unable to give him a new contract over registration issues caused by the club’s financial crisis. Despite the attacker breaking down as the announcement was made public, he was never given a proper farewell by the Blaugrana.
What followed was a bitter dispute between Barcelona’s greatest ever player and the Camp Nou side – one that has not been fully healed.
Current ETV
Lionel Messi
F, AM (R)
Inter Miami
Lionel Messi
F, AM (R)
Inter Miami
ETV Range
€6.5M - €8.8M
Messi ultimately moved to PSG as a free agent before completing a move to Inter Miami, where he has recently signed a contract that will extend his professional career until at least 2028.
There is, however, still an appetite to see the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner back at Camp Nou, particularly after he made a surprise appearance at the renovated venue.
But despite the emotions that Messi still provokes at Barcelona, Laporta has no problems with how things ended for him at the club.
Speaking to Catalunya Radio, he said: “Despite how everything happened with Leo Messi's departure, I have no regrets.
“Barca is above anyone else. It’s not what we all wanted, but it was not possible at that moment.”
Barcelona working on Messi tribute, Laporta promises
Laporta, meanwhile, added that he wants to see Messi back at Camp Nou – this time for a proper goodbye.
“I didn’t know he was coming, but the stadium is his home. From what I was told, it was a spontaneous decision. He had just finished dinner and felt like coming with some friends,” he said.
“It’s only right that Leo receives the most beautiful tribute in the world. Once the stadium is finished, we’ll have a capacity of 105,000 fans, and that’s what we’d like. We’re working on the tribute.”
Messi still ‘very angry’ with Laporta
Jordi Mestre, former vice-president of sport at Barcelona, recently explained that Messi’s relationship with Laporta remains fractured.
“I know from third parties that Leo Messi and his family are very angry with Laporta. Very angry. That talk about fixing things over a barbecue - well, we’ve seen how that turned out: nothing,” he explained to the Sports360 Podcast.
Why did Messi’s relationship with Barcelona break down?
As Barcelona’s greatest ever player, holding the record for appearances, goals and assists at the club, Messi’s exit via the backdoor of the club has cast a shadow over his time with the Blaugrana.
He departed for PSG in the summer of 2021 when the club failed to provide him a new contract because it would have been impossible to register him.
Messi has since had a strained relationship with Laporta, who he found disrespectful for claiming he could have remained at Barca and played for free.
“Never at any moment did they ask me to play for free. They asked me to reduce my salary by 50% and I did it without any problem. We were willing to help the club more. My desire and that of my family was to stay in Barcelona,” he told Sport (via ESPN)
“No one asked me to play for free, but at the same time the president's words were inappropriate. It hurt because I don't think there was any need to say that.
“It's like taking the ball from you and not accepting the responsibility or taking charge of things. That makes people think and generates doubts that I don't think I deserve.”
For Laporta, healing this rift with Messi would be a popular move among fans and would be a significant step to re-election in Barcelona’s most powerful position.
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