Laporta Says Relationship With Messi ‘Strained’

Former Barcelona President, Joan Laporta, has said that Lionel Messi snubbed him at a Ballon d’Or ceremony, which made him understand that their friendship will never be the same again.

He suggested that he and the Argentine will never be in a cordial relationship again following the manner in which the player left on his own in 2021.

Messi left his boyhood club, Barça to join Paris Saint-Germain and later Inter Miami in the USA Major League Soccer.

Laporta said he met Messi in person after Messi left Barcelona, and they met at the Ballon d’Or ceremony two years later in 2023.

He said to Catalunya Radio that the player made him realize they did not need to greet each other anymore, showing that he still held a grudge about how he left the Nou Camp.

“The relationship with Messi isn’t the same as before. There was also a situation at the Ballon d’Or ceremony where I went to say hello to him, and he thought we shouldn’t shake hands. Since then, there has been some rapprochement, and hopefully, this will continue in the future. The relationship is strained, but he’s a Barcelona legend”, he said via GOAL.

“The relationship is tense, but he’s a Barcelona legend.”

In the summer of 2021, Lionel Messi was about to sign a new contract with his childhood club when the deal was canceled, and he had to leave the team.

The club faced big money problems and could not afford to keep the legend on their roster.

Two years later, Messi wanted to come back to the club after getting some promises from them, but the transfer did not happen, and he ended up joining Inter Miami instead.