Messi says he wants to one day return to Barcelona as technical director
Former Barça captain explains president Laporta’s words about playing for free “hurt” him because he was never asked
Lionel Messi has expressed his desire to one day return to FC Barcelona as technical director once his contract at PSG runs out.
The Argentine star left Barça during the summer after a 21-year stay at the club when it became clear that the blaugrana were no longer able to keep him due to financial restraints.
Speaking with Catalan sports daily newspaper Sport, Leo Messi confirmed that once his stint in France concludes, he and his family will return to Barcelona to live.
When asked if he would like to return to the club, the former captain confirmed he “would love” to be able to come back and be “useful” and “help the club.”
“I would love to be a technical director at some point. I don’t know if it will be in Barcelona or not,” Messi explained. “If there is a chance, I would like to contribute as much as I can because it’s the club I love.”
Laporta’s ‘hurtful’ words
After his contract expired during the summer, it became apparent that Barça’s financial situation was too disastrous for the club to be able to register Messi once again, meaning the player had to leave.
Last month, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta lamented that Messi didn’t stay at the club and play “for free,” words which were hurtful to the player, because, as he told Sport, “nobody ever asked me to play for free.”
Speaking with Catalan radio station RAC1, Joan Laporta said in early October that he loved Messi too much to be angry. “But there comes a time when you see that things just cannot happen, and there was disappointment on both sides.”
He claimed that Barcelona knew there was an offer to Messi from PSG before the player left, and Laporta hoped Messi would have a “change of heart” and stay, but the player sees things quite differently.
“I did everything possible to stay,” Messi said. “They asked me to reduce my salary by 50% and I did that with no problem. We were ready to help the club further, my family and I wanted to stay in Barcelona.”
“Nobody asked me to play for free and at the same time, I think the president’s words are inappropriate,” the Argentine said.
“They hurt me because I think there’s no need to say that. It’s like taking the ball from you and not accepting the consequences or taking control of things. This makes people think, or creates some doubts, that I think I don’t deserve,” the player concluded.