Xavi accuses Laporta of derailing Messi return - 'Told me if Leo came back, he would wage war on him' | Barca Universal

"The president wasn't telling the truth about that either. Leo was signed. In January 2023, after becoming world champion, we got in touch and he told me he was excited to come back, and I could see that. We talked until March and I said, 'OK, when you give me the go-ahead, I'll tell the president because I can see it from a footballing point of view.'"

"The president began negotiating the contract with Leo's father, and we had the green light from La Liga, but it was the president who threw it all away. Laporta told me, word for word, that if Leo came back, he would wage war on him and that he couldn't allow that to happen."

"And then suddenly Leo stopped answering my calls because the other side had told him it couldn't be done. I called his father and said, 'This can't be, Jorge,' and he said, 'Talk to the president.' I insisted that we had been talking to Leo for five months, it was a done deal, there were no doubts on the footballing side."

Xavi Hernandez disclosed in an interview that former Barcelona president Joan Laporta deliberately prevented Lionel Messi's return to the club in 2023 when Messi was available as a free agent from PSG. Xavi stated that he had been in contact with Messi since January 2023, following the Argentine's World Cup victory, and Messi expressed enthusiasm about returning. Negotiations progressed with Messi's father Jorge, and La Liga granted approval for the transfer. However, Laporta ultimately abandoned the deal, claiming he feared Messi's return would create political conflict. This decision damaged relationships between Laporta and both Xavi and Messi, with Messi subsequently ceasing communication after being informed the move was impossible.

Read at Barca Universal