A call that destroyed Messi’s dream of returning to Barcelona sports

Argentine star Lionel Messi, the Inter Miami player, was close to returning to his former club Barcelona two years ago, but a phone call destroyed this dream at the last minute.

The “La Posesión” program, which is broadcast on the Catalan “Sport TV” channel, confirmed that Messi’s return, a last-minute phone call, thwarted the “dream” return of Messi to Barcelona, ​​which was almost accomplished in 2023.

Behind the scenes of the failure of Messi’s return to Barcelona

Barcelona then obtained the green light from the Spanish League to complete the deal, which was approved by former coach Xavi Hernandez, and then the club prepared the contract for signing.

The program added that a phone call from Jorge Messi, the father and agent of the Argentine star, thwarted this return and turned things upside down.

The story began on January 6, 2023, when Xavi received an “unexpected” phone call from Messi in which he told him that he had made his final decision regarding his future.

Messi, who was then in the final six months of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, told Xavi that he wanted to return to Barcelona and that he was ready and excited to return two years after his departure from the Catalan club and that he was convinced that his last adventure in Europe should be in the club of his life.

Xavi received this call with overwhelming joy, as he saw Messi’s return as a historic opportunity to strengthen the team’s strength in the competition that won the league title in the 2022-2023 season.

Over the following months, communication continued between Xavi and Messi approximately every 10 to 15 days. They exchanged ideas and adjusted roles until they reached a complete agreement that “the Argentine star accepted a different role than he had before, realizing that he was no longer the player who decided everything alone.”

In February 2023, Messi took an additional step towards returning to Barcelona, ​​as he asked Xavi to speak with his father, Jorge, to speed up the process.

Xavi then told club president Joan Laporta, who received the news with great enthusiasm. The latter sees Messi’s return as an opportunity to close the wound that opened in 2021, in reference to the “shocking” way in which the Argentine star left Barcelona.

In April of the same year, the good news reached Barcelona. Before one of the training sessions, Matteo Alemany, the club’s former sporting director, approached and said to Xavi the sentence that sparked optimism: “We have good news. La Liga has given us approval and everything is on the right track.”

Barcelona began drafting the contract, which included an agreement to continue Messi with the team for two years. The agreement was “almost completed” and was only waiting for the final touches. As for Xavi, the return was no longer a dream, but rather a matter of procedures and nothing more.

But all of that suddenly collapsed, as Jorge Messi called Xavi with shocking news and told him, “They tell me that the process will not take place, and that La Liga does not give approval to the deal.”

Shocking call

Here the process stopped completely and the club’s position changed, while Messi, “tired of waiting and uncertainty,” decided in the end to accept Inter Miami’s offer.

The Spanish newspaper “Sport” commented on this information by saying, “This is how Barcelona rejected the greatest legend in its history for the second time (the first by allowing him to leave), leaving behind a hidden story full of doubts, turns, and decisions that have not been revealed until today.”