Joan Laporta opens up about Barcelona’s plans to honour Lionel Messi – “He knows that” | OneFootball

It has been more than four years since Lionel Messi left Barcelona after contract talks with the club collapsed.

Ever since, president Joan Laporta has been keen on honouring Messi by hosting a farewell game at Camp Nou.

But their plans came to a standstill due to the Camp Nou redevelopment project, which saw Barcelona operate at Montjuic for quite some time now.

Even this season, the club have played a host of matches at Montjuic. But this could end soon, with a return to Camp Nou not too far away, which in turn could boost Barcelona’s ability to host a farewell game for Messi.

Joan Laporta talks about Messi’s farewell match

Joan Laporta was recently asked about Messi’s farewell match and whether or not it is part of Barcelona’s plans at all.

Lionel Messi recently scored a hat-trick for Inter Miami. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)

In response, the Barcelona president claimed that the club are more than keen on honouring Messi and will be able to do so once they return to Camp Nou.

“I have said repeatedly that we would be extremely happy to honour him. He is the best player in history, and he knows that,” Laporta said (h/t Official Barcelona website).

“We have always talked about holding this honour with the reopening of the Camp Nou stadium, and we are very excited about that,” he added.

Laporta’s comments came during Barcelona’s Ordinary General Assembly, where the club announced several key partnerships and new ventures for next season.

With Camp Nou return not too far away, it will be interesting to see if Barcelona can fast-track their plans to bring Messi back to the iconic stadium for one last time.