Joan Laporta, the president of Barcelona, has expressed his desire to bring Lionel Messi back to the club, referring to it as his “home.”
Messi’s current contract with Paris St-Germain ends in June, and there have been reports linking him to a move to Saudi Arabia.
However, Laporta believes that Barcelona can compete with any team for the 35-year-old’s signature. He made these comments during an interview with Spanish broadcaster TV3.
“History backs us, the feelings are too strong, we have 400 million fans around the world too,” Laporta said.
After 21 years at Barcelona, Messi left the club two years ago and joined Paris St-Germain. However, he has been facing difficulties during his two seasons in France, and fans booed him following their 5-0 victory over Ajaccio last weekend.
Laporta also mentioned that Messi is still a PSG player and that has to be respected, he said, “He is a Paris St-Germain player and we have to wait until the end of the season until it is over, and then we can talk more calmly about this,”
“With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and it is home,” Laporta concluded.
After Barcelona won their first La Liga title in four years with a 4-2 victory over Espanyol on Sunday, Laporta seemed more restrained compared to his reported comments during a late-night Twitch stream where he vowed to do “everything possible” to bring Messi back to the club.
