Xavi says Barcelona president Laporta blocked Messi return | OneFootball

Xavi has revealed that a return to Barcelona for Lionel Messi was ‘done’ before being blocked by president Joan Laporta.

Barcelona wanted to re-sign their record scorer from Paris Saint-Germain in 2022, but a move failed to materialise.

The club’s head coach at that time, Xavi, has now accused president Joan Laporta of derailing the deal, revealing how he put the block on Messi’s return to Camp Nou.

“Leo Messi back to Barcelona was a done deal after that World Cup won by Argentina. It was done, Xavi told told La Vanguardia.

“We also had La Liga’s green light and Messi wanted to return but Laporta stopped the signing”.

“Laporta told me that if Leo came back, there would be a wage war and he couldn’t afford that.”

Xavi’s comments came in a wide-ranging interview in which he told how Barcelona blocked pursuits of players including Martin Zubimendi, and ruled out a potential return to the club.

Laporta has since hit back at the former head coach, who left at the end of the 2023-24 campaign after a trophyless season.

“Xavi’s interview surprised me and hurt me. I understand that he’s hurt. With the same players, Flick wins and Xavi didn’t,” Laporta said.

“With Xavi I saw that we were going to lose and with Flick, that we are going to win.”

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