La Liga president contradicts former Barcelona director over Messi’s return: ‘He is confused’ | OneFootball

The debate surrounding Lionel Messi’s potential return to Barcelona in the summer of 2023 continues to spark controversy years later.

Over the past few days, the issue has resurfaced following comments from former Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez and former sporting director Mateu Alemany. 

Both suggested that the club had received a green light from La Liga to complete the operation before the deal eventually collapsed.

However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has now responded by offering a completely different version of events in an interview with SPORT. 

What did he say?

According to Tebas, the idea that the league had approved Messi’s return is simply incorrect.

“They did not have La Liga’s ‘yes’, and they had never asked us for it.”

Tebas explained that the necessary administrative steps required for such a high-profile signing were never even initiated by the Catalan club.

According to the La Liga president, Barcelona never formally contacted the league to request authorisation for the operation.

“What’s more, no one from FCB ever approached LaLiga,” he adds.

Javier Tebas has refuted Mateu Alemany’s claims. (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images For Sportel)

These remarks directly contradict the perception described by Xavi and Alemany, who believed at the time that the financial framework for Messi’s return had already been discussed and accepted.

Tebas dismissed that version of events and insisted that the scenario described by the former Barcelona figures could not have happened.

“It’s not true, Mateu is confused. It’s also impossible.”

More to the story

Beyond the disagreement over whether discussions took place, Tebas also pointed to the financial rules that governed Barcelona’s situation during that period. 

At the time, the club was not operating under La Liga’s so-called 1:1 rule, which allows clubs to spend freely in relation to their income.

“If they weren’t even under the 1:1 rule, it was impossible to say ‘yes’ when they didn’t even know what he was going to earn, and even more so when applying the regulations to the salary level that would be set for him,” Tebas explained.

The La Liga president added that even if Messi had accepted a much lower salary in order to return to Camp Nou, the league’s financial control regulations would still have created serious obstacles.

“Even if the contract had been for less, it would have been impossible,” he recalled.