Former Barcelona president wants Messi return: “At Camp Nou, he will never be whistled”

Speaking on Super Deportivo Radio on Radio Villa Trinidad (h/t SPORT), former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart has claimed that he wants Lionel Messi to return to the club at the end of the season amid reports of him wanting to leave PSG.

Gaspart was the Barça president when the club signed Messi from Newell’s Old Boys. The 78-year-old was the vice-president of the Catalan giants when they had recruited another Argentine legend in Diego Maradona.

And, Gaspart is of the opinion that Messi returning to Barcelona this summer would be like seeing Maradona return to life and play in his prime.

“Messi returning to Barcelona would be like Maradona coming back to life and playing for Barcelona at the age of 25,” Gaspart said.

Messi has been constantly booed and whistled at by PSG fans in recent matches, which is understood to have upset the Argentina captain. And Gaspart is certain that such an incident would never occur at Camp Nou, as he said: “At Camp Nou, Messi will never be whistled.”

The former Barcelona supremo then went on to add that he would have liked it if Messi had never left the club back in 2021. And he insisted that the Argentine captain should be given a lifetime captain if he returns, be it in whatever capacity.

“I would have liked Messi to never leave Barcelona and not now to try to bring him back. Personally, I would be passionate about Messi returning to Barcelona. I would like him to sign for life with Barcelona, as an ambassador,” he said.

“It’s secondary whether he plays or not, but for me, the human side and the person is more important. Let him return in whatever capacity he wants.”

However, he did go on to say that Messi has several years of football left in him and he deserves to finish his career at Barcelona.

Furthermore, Gaspart added that current president Joan Laporta dreams of bringing Messi back while adding that he would be ready to help the club make the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s return come to fruition.

“Laporta would be crazy to get Messi back at Barcelona. I know that he dreams of Lio returning to Barcelona,” he said.

“Suppose there was no approach beyond Laporta’s desire for Messi to return to Barcelona. If Lio calls me and says he wants to talk to me, I’ll get on a plane and go to Paris. I’m sure that if I met Leo and his father, I would do everything I could to make it happen,” he added.

“To see Messi back at Barcelona, I offer to find a formula to bring him back. I would do the impossible for him to return. If Leo asked me to find the formula to bring him back to Barca, I assure you that I would throw myself headlong into finding the solution,” Gaspart continued.

The 78-year-old expressed his pride at having been in charge when of Barcelona when they signed Messi and stated that he felt a special connection with the Argentine as a result. So, it would give him great pleasure if the club legend returns.