Former Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has made controversial statements against former president Joan Laporta just days before the Catalan club’s elections.
Xavi is known to support Victor Font’s bid for the Barcelona presidency after his relationship with Laporta broke down. Laporta sacked him in the summer of 2024, just weeks after renewing his contract.
Xavi stated in media interviews that Lionel Messi wanted to return to Barcelona after the 2022 World Cup and made the necessary financial sacrifices, but Laporta blocked the deal at the time.
The Catalan coach said, “We had already signed Messi in January 2023, after he won the World Cup. We contacted him, and he said he wanted to come back. We talked until March, and we reached an agreement.”
He added, “The president started negotiating with Messi’s father, and we got the green light from La Liga, but the president ruined everything.”
He added, “Laporta explicitly stated that if Leo returned, he would wage war, and he wouldn’t allow it. Then suddenly, Leo stopped answering my calls because they told him on the other side that his return was impossible.”
He concluded, “This affected my relationship with Messi, but it returned to normal afterward. I still long for him to return to Camp Nou to score and create goals.”
