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Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed that the club had asked Lionel Messi to wait for them to raise funds this summer. However, the Argentine was not willing to wait and decided to join MLS side Inter Miami.
Laporta was talking to Mundo Deportivo when he claimed that they wanted to avoid a repeat of 2021 and thus asked Lionel Messi to wait until they got full clearance. He adds that the former PSG star was interested in joining, and his father Jorge Messi was also pushing for the move.
The club president said (via Mundo Deportivo):
"There were possibilities, we had agreed that it would be like that. The player wanted to, the father too, but the rhythms are different. We didn't want what happened the other time to happen to us and we told them that when we had fair-play we would let them know."
However, things changed swiftly, and Jorge Messi came to the club office to inform Laporta that his son was moving to Inter Miami. Laporta added (via Mundo Deportivo):
"Then a while passed, the entire contract was agreed but Jorge wanted to come talk to me and told us that he had decided on Inter Miami because he had spent some very hard seasons in Paris, where he was under great pressure, that in Miami he would be calmer and I could think about the national team and despite having wanted to come to Barça, I didn't want to spend another year like that."
Lionel Messi has landed in Miami as he begins settling into life in the United States before his MLS debut.
Barcelona have no contact with Lionel Messi but plan tribute
Joan Laporta has gone on to reveal that the club have had no contact with Lionel Messi since the decision to join Inter Miami was announced. He claims that the relationship that was broken in 2021 has been fixed even though they could not get together again this summer.
Continuing to talk to Mundo Deportivo, Laporta said:
"We haven't talked anymore. We wish him well in Miami and Barça is his home. It is a relationship that ended when he went to Paris, it was resumed without achieving what both parties wanted and now it is correct."
A previous report in SPORT claimed that the Catalan side were planning a tribute to Lionel Messi on his return to the club this summer. However, those plans have been put on hold as Lionel Messi has chosen to join Inter Miami.
Laporta has now revealed that the tribute will take place at the 125th anniversary of the club. The celebration is set to take place next year and Nike are working with the club to make a special throwback jersey, as per SPORT.
