Xavi Accuses Laporta of Blocking Messi’s Barca Return Over ‘War Against Him’

Former Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has alleged that club president Joan Laporta deliberately prevented Lionel Messi’s return in 2023 out of fear of a potential power clash, despite having secured financial and league approvals for the deal.

Xavi, a club icon who managed the team from 2021 to 2024, claimed the Argentine star was eager to rejoin after his World Cup triumph and stint at Paris Saint-Germain.

“In January 2023, after becoming world champion at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, we got in touch, and he told me he was excited about returning,” Xavi said.

“I genuinely believed it was going to happen. We spoke until March, and I told him, ‘When you give me the OK, I’ll inform the president.’”

According to Xavi, Laporta initially supported the move but later backed out, citing internal risks: “Laporta told me, literally, that if Leo returned, they would make war against him, and he couldn’t allow that.”

He added that Messi suddenly ceased communication after Laporta’s intervention: “Then suddenly Leo stopped answering my calls because they had already told him from Laporta’s side that it wouldn’t happen.”

Xavi disputed Laporta’s public narrative, insisting: “Laporta isn’t telling the truth. Leo was already signed.”

He described detailed preparations, including a temporary stadium shift for a “last dance” akin to Michael Jordan’s farewell: “From a football perspective, everything was clear, and financially, the plan was to move to Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys… Everything was prepared. I desperately wanted Messi back so I could coach him, but in the end, the situation turned us against each other.”

Messi, who departed Barcelona in 2021 amid financial woes, ultimately joined Inter Miami instead, while the club has struggled to recapture its former dominance under Laporta’s leadership since his 2021 re-election.