Joan Laporta on Messi to Barcelona return rumours: “Would love it, but complicated”

Speaking on BarçaTV, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted that he would love to see club legend Lionel Messi return to Spotify Camp Nou. However, he insisted that the Argentine international is a PSG player currently and any operation to sign him will be very difficult and complicated.

Messi left Barcelona last year after the club failed to renew his contract, despite Laporta insisting for the longest time that everything was in order for an extension.

The 35-year-old ended up joining PSG where he is thriving currently following a slow start. Not only is Messi enjoying a great run with his new club, but the global superstar recently led Argentina to the FIFA World Cup triumph in Qatar, winning the one final trophy that had eluded him.

Messi’s contract with PSG expires at the end of the season, leading to speculations over his future. A return to Barcelona has been mooted but is seen as a distant possibility due to the Catalans’ poor financial health as well the legend’s strained relationship with Laporta.

Commenting on the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s potential comeback to Camp Nou, the Barcelona president insisted that he would love for it to happen but was honest in admitting that the move will be complicated and that he does not want to generate false expectations.

“On the subject of Messi, we can’t generate expectations. Messi is a PSG player and has a contract with them. He has won the World Cup and the Culés have been very happy. What I don’t want to do is generate expectations that at the moment are very difficult,” he said.

“For us he is the best player of all time, we have had him here and I am convinced that in his heart he is a Culé and will always be linked to Barça. Whether or not he comes back as a player, at the moment he is at PSG and we would very much love him to come back one day, but we’ll see,” he added.

While Laporta continues to harbour hopes of bringing Messi back, reports last night suggested that the World Cup winner had reached an agreement in principle to remain at PSG for at least another year.