Barcelona outraged by El Mundo's Lionel Messi contract leaks, threaten legal action

Barcelona have reacted to El Mundo's recent publication revealing alleged details of Lionel Messi's demands to sign a new contract with the Catalan club back in the summer of 2020.

The Spanish newspaper claimed that Lionel Messi laid out a number of wishes he wanted the Blaugrana to meet before signing a new contract at Camp Nou.

Some of the alleged wishes include a whopping €10 million sign-on bonus and a €10,000 release clause making it easy for him to leave at the time of his choosing. Another of the Argentine's alleged wishes was for a private jet to be made available for his family to visit Argentina and a free private box for him and his friend Luis Suarez.

However, Barcelona have frowned at those claims in an official statement, stating that the information made public was part of a judicial procedure. As per Barca Universal, the statement reads:

“In relation to the information published today in El Mundo del Siglo XXI, under the title ‘BarcaLeaks, the secret archives of the club, part 1’, FC Barcelona expresses its outrage at the interested leak of some information that would form part of a judicial procedure."

“The Club also regrets that the media outlet boasts of having had ‘access to a huge amount of documentation and emails that are in the possession of the Barçagate investigation’ when this information and documentation has not yet been shared with the parties.”

Barcelona also threatened legal action against the Spanish outlet due to the leaking of confidential details. The statement continued:

“In any case, the article in question makes public documents that have nothing to do with the investigation of the case and their use threatens the reputation and confidentiality of the Club."

“For this reason, and with the aim of protecting the rights of FC Barcelona, the Club’s legal services are already studying the appropriate measures to take.”

Lionel Messi could return to Barcelona in 2023

Lionel Messi parted ways with the Catalan giants last year.

The Argentine is already in the final year of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain and Barca have openly declared that they are interested in securing his return to Camp Nou next year.

Club president Joan Laporte discussed the Argentine's return earlier this summer. As quoted by the Daily Mail, he said:

"I feel indebted to Leo Messi. I would like him to end his career in a Barca shirt, and be applauded at all the stadiums. I feel partially responsible for how things ended, and I feel that this is a temporary end and that we will make this dream a reality. At least that is the dream."