Pep Guardiola tells ESPN that he hopes to “say goodbye to Leo as he deserves”
The Manchester City boss spoke to ESPN Argentina where he mentioned Lionel Messi’s potential return to FC Barcelona.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola told ESPN Argentina that he hopes to “say goodbye to Leo as he deserves” and that the player “will do the impossible” to return to his former club, FC Barcelona, when his contract with PSG expires this summer. The World Cup winner has been the subject of various rumours during the summer as his relationship with PSG has deteriorated over the course of the season, with many people suggesting various destinations for the former LaLiga star who won everything under Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola himself remains an admirer of the player, and said to ESPN that he believes Messi to be the “greatest player of all time”. Between 2008 and 2012, FC Barcelona went on an unprecedented run of success in which they collected every trophy available, including an historic sextuple (LaLiga, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup) which began in 2009.
‘Messi deserves to have a farewell for the important figure that he is’
“In the last 12 years or so, Barcelona had a ‘boom’ and that wouldn’t have been possible without [Messi]”, said the City manager, “and I’m not talking about numbers, but rather his involvement in the play, his beauty, his efficiency, his efficiency, everything.”
Messi left Barcelona for PSG in 2021, with LaLiga’s financial restrictions making it impossible for the player to sign a new deal and he eventually saw his contract run out. I never would have thought that it would end as it did,” Guardiola said on the matter. “I’m convinced that president [Joan] Laporta loves Leo, and since he left, he has said [Messi] deserves to have a farewell for the important figure that he is.”
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Guardiola was more hopeful of a return to Spain for the Argentine, saying “I hope the day comes when I’m in my seat [at Camp Nou] and I can stand up and applaud, and say goodbye to Leo as he deserves. And I know that Joan [Laporta] is going to try, and Leo too, and he and his family will receive all the love that Barcelona fans have for him, with all the gratitude and respect for what he did for the club.”
Messi, who along with Carlos Alcaraz, recently won the Laureus Sport Award, has refused to publicly clarify his future. This silence has resulted in various rumours emerging over recent weeks, including a potential move to Saudi Arabia, which was quickly smothered by the player’s father, Jorge Messi, who said in a statement that “there is absolutely nothing with any club for next season... The decision will not be taken before Lionel finishes the league with PSG... Once the season ends it will be the time to analyse and see what there is, and then take a decision.”