-
News
- 51 minutes ago
Lionel Messi made ‘spectacular’ Barcelona return promise by Joan Laporta
Robin Bairner
- 5 Dec 2025 06:21 CST
- 5 min read
News
Lionel Messi has been promised a spectacular return to Barcelona when he is ready by president Joan Laporta.
The pair have had a fractured relationship, dating back to comments made by Laporta after Messi left the club to join PSG as a free agent in 2021.
Barcelona’s leading scorer, assist and appearance maker was never given the send off from the Camp Nou crowd that he merited, and now the president has promised the Argentine such fanfare when he is ready to return to the club.
Current ETV
Lionel Messi
F, AM (R)
Inter Miami
Lionel Messi
F, AM (R)
Inter Miami
ETV Range
€6.5M - €8.8M
Barcelona will build a statue to Leo Messi
Messi, who recently broke the all-time assist record in football while playing for Inter Miami, has said he will return to Barcelona when his playing days are over and Laporta says he will be warmly welcomed.
“In Messi’s case, when the time comes, we want to give him the most beautiful tribute ever seen for the greatest player in the history of football and of Barca. And we want to create statues for those who have shaped our history, like Kubala, Cruyff, Messi and others such as Ronaldinho,” Laporta said at an event organised by La Vanguardia.
“I hope there will be more players like Messi, or even better. But I am not here to fuel any controversy. I hear things. I won’t make unrealistic or unfair speculations. The ideal tribute would be 105,000 Barcelona fans in a full stadium thanking him for everything he has done for Barca. It could be a beautiful moment.”
Laporta admitted that little progress has been made towards Messi’s statue beyond the conception of the idea.
The Barcelona president said: “There is no news yet about him accepting the statue, nor have we decided on a design. But there are other priorities.
“We see the tribute somewhere on the horizon. Renaming the stadium after him? The idea came up, but we didn’t consider it appropriate. In life, many things can happen, and normally names are given when they are no longer here, and that is not the case.
“As for whether he will play a major role in the elections? I don’t know. That is a question for him. He is a club member.”
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.
