Lionel Messi\u2019s departure from FC Barcelona in 2021 was one of the most painful moments in the club\u2019s recent history, and both the player and the institution were eager to find a way to reunite. But former coach Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez has now revealed that a return following Messi\u2019s 2022 World Cup triumph was ultimately blocked by club president Joan Laporta, who feared it would trigger a \u201cpower war\u201d he could not afford.<\/p>\n
With Messi\u2019s two-year deal at Paris Saint-Germain set to expire at the end of the 2022-23 season and his relationship with the club increasingly strained, the conditions for a return to Barcelona appeared to be falling into place. Xavi confirmed that contact was made over the possibility of bringing the Argentine back as a free agent, and that progress was being made until a significant obstacle emerged.<\/p>\n
In an interview with La Vanguardia, Xavi directly challenged Laporta\u2019s version of events: \u201cThat\u2019s another instance where the president isn\u2019t telling the truth. Leo was a done deal. In January 2023, after he became a World Champion, since we have a great relationship, we got in touch and he told me he was excited about coming back\u2014and I could see it happening. We spoke until March, and I told him, \u2018Look, as soon as you give me the green light, I\u2019ll tell the president, because from a football perspective, I see the fit.\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n
The former coach then described the moment the deal collapsed, pointing squarely at Laporta\u2019s intervention in negotiations. \u201cThe president began negotiating the contract with Leo\u2019s father, and his deal was done, we had the green light from LaLiga, but it was the president who pulled the plug on everything. Once again, he isn\u2019t telling the truth,\u201d the former Barcelona boss continued.<\/p>\n
Barcelona President Joan Laporta and Lionel Messi. <\/p>\n
He went on to paint a vivid picture of how the situation unraveled in its final stages: \u201cThen, suddenly, Leo stopped picking up my calls because, on the other side, they had told him it couldn\u2019t be done. I called his father and said, \u2018Jorge, this can\u2019t be,\u2019 and he told me, \u2018Talk to the president,\u2019 and the president told me that he wasn\u2019t going to do it. I insisted to him that we had been talking to Leo for five months\u2014it was done. There were no doubts on the pitch; economically, we were moving to Montju\u00efc and we were going to have a \u2018Last Dance\u2019 just like Michael Jordan\u2019s. Everything was ready.\u201c<\/p>\n
Xavi ultimately concluded that Laporta\u2019s reluctance came down to a fear of losing control of the club\u2019s narrative, given his standing as the man who had rebuilt Barcelona from the brink of financial collapse. \u201cLaporta told me, verbatim, that if Leo returned, it would \u2018start a war\u2019 that he couldn\u2019t afford. That\u2019s the truth, I\u2019m not trying to lie to anyone, I have no interest in returning to Barca, nor with Victor Font\u2019s candidacy.\u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cLeo didn\u2019t come to Barca because the president didn\u2019t want him to. Not because of LaLiga, nor Jorge Messi asking for more money. That\u2019s not true. It\u2019s the president and his people who said he couldn\u2019t afford it, that he has all the power and that power would be poorly managed with Messi around, that there would be a war,\u201d he candidly stated.<\/p>\n
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