Former coach Xavi Hernandez revealed that Lionel Messi could’ve returned to Barcelona after winning the 2022 World Cup, but the move ended up being turned down by president Joan Laporta over a “power war” between the two.
Lionel Messi’s departure from FC Barcelona in 2021 was one of the most painful moments in the club’s recent history, and both the player and the institution were eager to find a way to reunite. But former coach Xavi Hernández has now revealed that a return following Messi’s 2022 World Cup triumph was ultimately blocked by club president Joan Laporta, who feared it would trigger a “power war” he could not afford.
With Messi’s two-year deal at Paris Saint-Germain set to expire at the end of the 2022-23 season and his relationship with the club increasingly strained, the conditions for a return to Barcelona appeared to be falling into place. Xavi confirmed that contact was made over the possibility of bringing the Argentine back as a free agent, and that progress was being made until a significant obstacle emerged.
In an interview with La Vanguardia, Xavi directly challenged Laporta’s version of events: “That’s another instance where the president isn’t telling the truth. Leo was a done deal. In January 2023, after he became a World Champion, since we have a great relationship, we got in touch and he told me he was excited about coming back—and I could see it happening. We spoke until March, and I told him, ‘Look, as soon as you give me the green light, I’ll tell the president, because from a football perspective, I see the fit.‘”
The former coach then described the moment the deal collapsed, pointing squarely at Laporta’s intervention in negotiations. “The president began negotiating the contract with Leo’s father, and his deal was done, we had the green light from LaLiga, but it was the president who pulled the plug on everything. Once again, he isn’t telling the truth,” the former Barcelona boss continued.
Barcelona President Joan Laporta and Lionel Messi.
He went on to paint a vivid picture of how the situation unraveled in its final stages: “Then, suddenly, Leo stopped picking up my calls because, on the other side, they had told him it couldn’t be done. I called his father and said, ‘Jorge, this can’t be,’ and he told me, ‘Talk to the president,’ and the president told me that he wasn’t going to do it. I insisted to him that we had been talking to Leo for five months—it was done. There were no doubts on the pitch; economically, we were moving to Montjuïc and we were going to have a ‘Last Dance’ just like Michael Jordan’s. Everything was ready.“
Xavi ultimately concluded that Laporta’s reluctance came down to a fear of losing control of the club’s narrative, given his standing as the man who had rebuilt Barcelona from the brink of financial collapse. “Laporta told me, verbatim, that if Leo returned, it would ‘start a war’ that he couldn’t afford. That’s the truth, I’m not trying to lie to anyone, I have no interest in returning to Barca, nor with Victor Font’s candidacy.“
“Leo didn’t come to Barca because the president didn’t want him to. Not because of LaLiga, nor Jorge Messi asking for more money. That’s not true. It’s the president and his people who said he couldn’t afford it, that he has all the power and that power would be poorly managed with Messi around, that there would be a war,” he candidly stated.
*Developing story…