Xavi accuses Laporta of derailing Messi return – ‘Told me if Leo came back, he would wage war on him’ | OneFootball

Xavi Hernandez, the former manager and player of FC Barcelona, spoke at length in an interview with the newspaper La Vanguardia (h/t SPORT), addressing the failed return of Lionel Messi and openly criticising how the situation was handled by Joan Laporta.

Xavi, who recently publicly supported presidential candidate Victor Font during an electoral event, sensationally revealed that it was Laporta who stopped Messi’s return back in 2023, when the Argentine was set to leave PSG as a free agent.

“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,” revealed Xavi.

“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 former manager confirmed that Laporta had begun negotiations with Messi’s camp, including his father, Jorge, and there was a green light from La Liga for the deal as well, only for the ex-president to back out of the operation.

“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.”

On being asked if Laporta told him why he had changed his stance, Xavi startlingly revealed:

“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.”

Xavi wanted Messi back at Barcelona. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

This ended up souring the relationship between Messi and Xavi as well, the former midfielder claimed.

“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, financially we were going to Montjuic, and we were going to do a last dance like Jordan’s, everything was ready.”

Xavi admitted that things were okay between him and Messi now, but for a while, the Argentine had stopped talking to him, believing that he had a part in the failed return to Barcelona.

“Yes, because he thought I was involved in the plot. It affected my relationship with Leo a lot, but now it’s back to normal,” he said.

“I was dying for Leo to come back, and I still think that he would help the team score goals and make those final passes, without a doubt, but he’s going to play in the World Cup! Leo would be successful again at Camp Nou, and it was his wish and mine.”

“He knows that now, but for a while, I couldn’t communicate with him. It was a shame, but it was the fault of those who are there,” Xavi further added.