Barcelona president defends decision to part ways with Lionel Messi

The Spanish club couldn’t retain the forward due to financial problems.

Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, has defended the club’s 2021 decision to part ways with Lionel Messi.

After learning that he would not be able to sign a new contract, Messi gave Barcelona a heartfelt farewell in a news conference in August 2021.

Barcelona believed that their best player of all time could not be retained due to the club’s financial difficulties at the time. Messi thus departed as a free agent and signed a two-year contract with the French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Laporta’s choice to part ways with Lionel Messi and the way he handled his departure from Camp Nou have drawn criticism.

Laporta insists he made the right decision to part ways with Lionel Messi

Laporta defended his choice in an interview with El País, stating that it was the right course of action to safeguard the club’s financial future.

“I had to make a decision and I think I was right, the results speak for themselves,” Laporta said.

“We were able to recover the club’s economy, we made a competitive team, and it was time for the generational change, Leo was at the end of his career, and we had to make a new team.”

“Would I have liked to make a new team with Leo helping? Yes. That was tried, but it could not be.”

Although Laporta’s relationship with Lionel Messi has suffered since his departure in 2021, there are still plans to give the Inter Miami star the farewell he deserves.

Even though Laporta and Messi’s relationship may be irreversible, it seems inevitable that the latter will return to Camp Nou, even if it’s just for a farewell match to honour his legacy.

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