BARCELONA
\nBarcelona president Joan Laporta said on Monday the club would \u201cdo everything possible\u201d to bring Argentine superstar Lionel Messi back in the close season.
\nThe Paris Saint-Germain forward is set to leave in the summer when his contract expires and new La Liga champions Barcelona are hoping to lure their all-time top goalscorer back, despite strong interest from Saudi Arabia.
\nMessi has had two lacklustre seasons in Paris after a glorious era at Barcelona where he won four Champions League and 10 La Liga titles and is still worshipped by the fans there.
\nLaporta said he has spoken with Messi to try and rebuild the relationship between them, which was damaged when he left in 2021.
\nMessi wanted to stay at Barcelona but the club could not afford to keep him because of a debt of over one billion euros ($1.1 billion).
\n\u201cI have spoken to Leo to somehow redirect a situation that occurred, in which I had to put the club ahead of everything, even him, who is the best player in the world,\u201d Laporta told Catalan regional public television station TV3.
\n\u201cThe truth is that it was a very affectionate conversation, very pleasant, and we have also been sending each other messages lately \u2014 I congratulated him on the World Cup.\u201d
\nIn the early hours of Monday morning, after Barcelona won 4-2 at Espanyol to clinch La Liga, Laporta said on Twitch that \u201cwe will do everything possible\u201d to sign Messi.
\nHowever, speaking on TV3, he was more cautious.
\n\u201cHe is a Paris Saint-Germain player and what we will do is improve the team in all areas, we have already worked on that,\u201d said Laporta.
\n\u201cI think it would do me a disservice to talk about these questions about Leo, because he belongs to a team like Paris Saint-Germain, and we have to wait until the end of the season until it is over and then we can talk more calmly about this.\u201d
\nAFP reported last week that sources close to negotiations said it was a \u201cdone deal\u201d that Messi would move to Saudi Arabia next season.
\nHowever, Laporta said that despite the money on offer in the Middle East \u2014 a reported 400 million dollars a year \u2014 Barcelona could compete for Messi\u00b4s signature.
\n\u201cWith all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and it is his home,\u201d added Laporta.
\n\u201cWe can compete with everyone. History backs us, the feelings are too strong, we have 400 million fans around the world too.\u201d
\nBarcelona need to make over 200 million euros in savings, or new income, to be able to operate without restrictions under La Liga financial fair play rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARCELONA Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Monday the club would \u201cdo everything possible\u201d to bring Argentine superstar Lionel Messi back in the close season. The Paris Saint-Germain forward is set to leave in the summer when his contract expires and new La Liga champions Barcelona are hoping to lure their all-time top goalscorer back, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-331522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n