LaLiga chief denies Messi return talk
Speaking on Spanish TV, LaLiga president Javier Tebas said the league never gave Barcelona the financial green light to re-sign Lionel Messi.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has denied that the Spanish league granted Barcelona financial authorization to re-sign Lionel Messi in 2023.
“LaLiga didn’t authorize anything”
Speaking on Spanish television on Monday, Tebas contradicted recent remarks by former Barça player and coach Xavi Hernández, who claims Messi came close to a sensational return to the Catalan giants - only for club president Joan Laporta to block the move.
“LaLiga didn’t authorize anything, nor did we give any kind of OK,” Tebas told the RTVE sports show Estudio Estadio, a day after Xavi said in a newspaper interview that Messi’s Barça comeback had been agreed upon and financially approved by the league.
“Messi was very close to rejoining when I was the coach,” Xavi told La Vanguardia. “It was basically done in January 2023. I contacted him after he won the World Cup [with Argentina in December 2022], and he told me he was excited to return.”
Xavi, who was Barça head coach from November 2021 to May 2024, added: “We talked until March [2023]. I told him that once he gave me the OK, I’d speak to the president.
“LaLiga had given the green light, but Laporta pulled the plug.”
Read more about Xavi’s comments in La Vanguardia in this full report by AS USA’s Javier Miguel and Roddy Cons.
When did Messi leave Barcelona?
A product of Barça’s youth academy, Messi spent 17 years in the club’s first team, helping the Catalans to 10 LaLiga titles and five Champions Leagues, before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in summer 2021.
The forward’s Barça departure came amid major financial difficulties at the Blaugrana. With LaLiga imposing strict rules on how much clubs can spend on their squads, the Argentine departed as a free agent after Barça were unable to fit a new contract into an overall budget that complied with league regulations.
After two seasons at PSG, Messi moved to the United States in July 2023, joining Major League Soccer team Inter Miami.
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