Barcelona president shares interesting claim about Lionel Messi

Barcelona president Joan Laporta suggested during an interview that the club could have re-signed superstar Lionel Messi once his Paris Saint-Germain contract expired at the end of June. 

According to Pol Ballús of The Athletic, Laporta spoke with Spanish outlet La Vanguardia and indicated Messi chose Major League Soccer and Inter Miami over a Barcelona homecoming this summer. 

"I understand Messi’s decision to join Miami," Laporta explained. "But we had an agreement with La Liga and they knew we were going to use a part of our resources to cover up for Messi. This was contemplated on our viability plan, approved by La Liga. We told Jorge Messi (the player’s father and agent) and he replied that Leo had gone through a tough year in Paris and that he wanted to have less pressure on his shoulders." 

Messi confirmed last month he "really wanted to return to" Barcelona but "did not want to be in the same situation" as what he experienced when financial issues prevented the Catalan club from re-signing him in the summer of 2021. 

Barcelona later said in a released statement that they "respected Messi's decision to want to compete in a league with fewer demands, further away from the spotlight and the pressure he has been subject to in recent years," and manager Xavi Hernandez hinted that the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner wanted to leave the "spotlight" of a top-tier European league. 

Spanish football writer Guillem Balague reported last month that Barcelona re-signing Messi was financially "impossible," but Ballús wrote Monday that sources say the club was "very close" to completing a reunion with the 36-year-old.

"In the end, according to the player’s camp, it all collapsed because of a lack of clarity on the financial side," Ballús added. "They knew Barcelona needed to offload multiple first-team players to have the money to pay for Messi — something the player did not want to be responsible for." 

Ballús also pointed out that Messi had concerns Barcelona wouldn't be able to register him ahead of the upcoming season. Messi is now on track to make his Inter Miami debut versus Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup match on July 21.