Joan Laporta, the president of Barcelona, recently confirmed that he held a meeting with Lionel Messi’s father, Jorge, who is also the player’s agent. Speculation over Messi’s future has been rife since his two-year deal at Paris Saint-Germain expired this summer. The 35-year-old has been linked with a move to MLS side Inter Miami, a contract extension at PSG, and a return to Barca. Messi left the Spanish side in 2021 as a free agent when their financial situation became untenable, and his brother later blamed Laporta for allowing him to depart.
Since then, there have been reports that Laporta has met Messi’s father, Jorge. The Barca president has now confirmed those rumours but would not comment on Messi’s future. “We met, yes. We talked about the situation, I congratulated him because Argentina won,” he said. “He knows that we were happy that Messi won the World Cup. We talked about a tribute to Leo. As you can imagine he has an extraordinary affection for Barca. And don’t make me talk about Leo because he’s at PSG and I want to respect the club and the player.”
Laporta was pressed on a potential return, but would not budge, saying: “The subject of Leo is not going well. We are talking about a tribute.” Changing the conversation, Laporta was then asked about the decision not to keep Messi in 2021, which ended in a teary farewell to the club’s greatest ever player. The president is adamant a new contract would have been impossible. “The situation was very complicated, we didn’t have fair play, the league didn’t allow it either,” he said. “I would have liked it to continue and I didn’t know how to do it. I had to choose, and I chose the institution.”
Messi’s future has been a topic of discussion for some time now, with many wondering where he will end up next. He has been linked with several clubs, including Inter Miami and PSG, but a return to Barca would be a dream for many fans. However, Laporta’s comments suggest that this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Despite this, Laporta did confirm that he has an “extraordinary affection” for Messi and that they talked about a tribute to the player during their recent meeting. This suggests that while Messi may not be returning to Barca anytime soon, the club still holds him in high regard and wants to honour his contributions.
Overall, it seems that Messi’s future remains uncertain at this point. While there are rumours and speculation about where he will end up next, nothing has been confirmed yet. However, it is clear that Laporta and Barca still have a lot of respect for Messi and want to pay tribute to his legacy at the club.