Former Barcelona presidential candidate fires shots at Joan Laporta over Lionel Messi

Former Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font has hit out at Joan Laporta, stating that he and the club have failed to live up to the ‘historical dimension of the figure of Lionel Messi’.

Laporta returned as the president of FC Barcelona last year, winning the elections over Font and Toni Freixa, with over 54% of the votes. Font came in second with around 30% of the votes while Freixa finished at the bottom.

Since taking over the reins, Laporta has had to put out fire after fire due to the sorry financial state that the club were left in by the previous administration.

As a consequence, the Blaugrana failed to renew the conract of club legend Lionel Messi last summer, with the former captain having to leave as a free agent, signing for Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi’s exit shocked the football fraternity, more so considering that until the last minute Laporta had been exuding confidence that the Argentina captain will be renewed by Barcelona.

Naturally, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s exit left a huge void at Barça, affecting the club both sporting-wise as well as economically. And Font has taken aim at Laporta over the handling of the Messi situation, writing in La Vanguardia (h/t MARCA):

“Barça have not lived up to the historical dimension of the figure of Messi. Let us hope that we can take perspective and make a proper analysis of everything.

“And may the conclusions also help us to understand that, even in the world of emotions, goodwill, barbecues, and determination are not enough.”

The former presidential candidate also insisted that Barcelona could have “maximised the value of the team” with Messi in their ranks, but the Argentine was allowed to depart as a free agent.

He also fired shots at Laporta’s approach of relying on ‘levers’ to bail the team out in the summer window, stating: “The misnamed levers have been closed without a plan, in a hurry, and they don’t help the club’s assets to grow.”

Laporta and Barcelona have been showing an interest in bringing Messi back to the club next summer, when his contract with PSG expires. However, the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner is expected to renew with the French champions, with a principle agreement believed to be in place.