According to journalist Toni Juanmarti, Laporta is willing to do everything possible for Messi’s return, but the 60-year-old will not risk the position of the club in order to turn the dream into reality.
For now, Laporta’s priority is to explore the threats Barcelona may face in case the Argentina captain does return. For this, the president will meet with the upper management to make a decision.
Laporta is of the opinion that he owes Messi a lot after the forward was forced to quit the team in 2021. But at the same time, he has pressed that he would make the same decision again if his team falls into a similar kind of trouble.
Since Messi’s exit, a lot has changed at Barcelona and while Laporta does want the player to return, he wants to know the price the club would have to pay. At the same time, he wants to understand where in what position Barça would be if it does happen.
As far as Messi is concerned, he wants to have all the guarantees beforehand. This means he wants to understand how the management will function during the transfer.
Now, it must be remembered that Messi’s relationship with Laporta’s board is not so good. The player, however, is willing to set everything aside but that does not necessarily mean he would return just like this.
Juanmarti claims that the 35-year-old will not directly demonstrate his desire to return unless he is given the guarantees that he can be registered in La Liga.
Barcelona’s troubles with player registration are known to everyone so the forward is certainly not being unreasonable especially since the club’s relationship with La Liga president Javier Tebas is not the best.
For now, Laporta’s management has resumed contact with Messi’s father and agent, Jorge Messi, and the next step is to send the numbers.
Club vice-president Rafa Yuste has also confirmed that contacts have taken place between the two caps, saying:
“We’ve been in contact with Leo Messi’s camp. Leo knows how much we appreciate him and I’d love for him to come back. For sure Messi loves Barça and the city, so we hope to find the right conditions to continue his history here.”
At this moment, Messi has an option of extending his stay with PSG and before the World Cup, everything seemed perfectly on track. However, recent episodes with the fans have changed the game and the pendulum is now swinging in Barcelona’s favour.