Laporta confirms Barcelona’s intentions to re-sign Messi: “Will do everything we can”

Speaking after Barcelona’s La Liga title triumph following the 4-2 away win over RCD Espanyol, club president Joan Laporta confirmed the club’s intentions to re-sign Lionel Messi in the summer transfer window.

Messi’s contract with PSG expires at the end of the ongoing season and an exit from France is pretty much certain at this point.

Barça have been working hard in the background to try and bring their former captain back to the club, but the Financial Fair Play has been playing a major hindrance in their bid to do so.

Laporta, for his part, has been dropping hints about trying to re-sign Messi in the summer without actually stating it out loud.

But, following the win against Espanyol last night, the Barcelona president made it clear that the club are indeed very much intent on bringing the Argentina captain back and will do everything they can to make the return happen.

“We will do everything we can to bring Leo Messi back to Barcelona”, Laporta said, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano.

Further speaking to RAC1, he added: “Messi deal? We will discuss about that, yes. We are working to have the possibility to build a very competitive team next season. We’ll see if they will approve our viability plan.”

“I spoke with Leo Messi about the situation that happened. We sent each other text messages. We have a relationship.

“Messi plays for Paris, and there has been some unpleasant situations with the fans. I don’t want to bother him. We exchanged messages recently. He respects the club, and nobody doubts that.

“Barça is Barça, and this is Leo Messi’s home. Barcelona can compete with Saudi Arabia and everywhere else.”

Meanwhile, club vice-president Rafa Yuste, while talking to Carrusel (h/t Fabrizio Romano), also insisted the same as Laporta, stating that he would love to see Messi back at Barcelona.

“Messi? He’s very good friend of many guys who are celebrating La Liga today… I’m sure he is so happy! I would love Messi to come back,” Yuste said.

As iterated earlier, the Fair Play issues have been the major hurdle for Barcelona in their bid to bring Messi back to the club for one last hurrah. But it has been reported that they are confident of getting the operation across the line in the coming months.

Only time will tell whether the dream turns into a reality or not, but for now, the culers can rejoice in their La Liga title triumph, bringing the trophy back home after four years.