Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez said Lionel Messi A return to the team is “impossible” at the moment, but he has not definitively closed the door on bringing him back in the future.
President of Barca Joan Laporta told ESPN last week that he sees it as his responsibility to ensure Messi has a “better ending” at Camp Nou following his painful exit last summer.
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However, Xavi has reduced the chances of re-signing with Messi since Paris Saint-Germainwhom he joined on a two-year contract last summer because Barca could not afford to extend his contract.
“Leo has a contract, so it’s impossible, impossible,” Xavi said at a news conference in Dallas ahead of Tuesday’s friendly against Juventus in Cotton.
“It doesn’t make sense to talk about Messi. He’s the best player in the world and the best ever. The president has said that he hopes Messi’s story doesn’t end with Messi’s story. Barcelona. We’ll see in the future, but it’s not a time to talk about Leo, it’s a time to talk about the exciting players we have here.”
The post-Messi era has begun to flourish in Barcelona this summer with the signings of attackers Robert lewandowski and Raphinha. They keep track of the January arrivals of Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Messi will be 36 years old when his contract expires with PSG in 2023, but reports continue to suggest he will return to Barca. Following Laporta’s comments to ESPN, Diario Sport reported that Xavi has asked the chairman to try to sign him on a free transfer next summer.
Messi’s departure from the Catalan club left a lot of bitterness. He is ready to accept a lower salary to stay, but Barca still cannot meet his salary within the spending limits imposed by LaLiga.
“Messi is everything,” Laporta said exclusively to ESPN last week.
“Going to Barca, he can [the club’s] The greatest, most effective player. To me, he can only be compared to Johan Cruyff. But it has to happen someday. We have to make decisions as a consequence of what we have inherited.
“I hope that the Messi chapter isn’t over yet. I think it’s our responsibility to try… find some time to fix that chapter, the chapter is still open and not closed, so it becomes like this. so , and that it has a better ending.
“As president of Barca, I did what I had to. But as president of Barca, and personally, I think I owe him.”
Laporta has previously spoken of his desire to see Messi return to Barca, where he has won the Ballon d’Or six times, as well as holding the club’s record for goals (672) and appearances (778). ).
