FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has officially confirmed that the club will continue to pay former FCB player Lionel Messi until 2025.
Despite his departure from the club in 2021, there were outstanding payments owed to Messi by the Catalan club.
Laporta explained, “What he is owed is the deferred wages that were agreed upon with the previous board, resulting in outstanding payments that will be settled by 2025,” as he spoke to La Vanguardia.
Regarding Messi’s decision to join the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami over Barcelona, Laporta revealed that the Argentine footballer sought “less pressure” after facing two challenging years in Paris.
He further clarified that there was an agreement with LaLiga to allocate part of the club’s resources to Messi, as included in their viability plan.
Laporta had communicated this to Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s father and agent, who explained that his son wanted a fresh start away from the intense pressure he experienced in Paris.
Despite numerous rumors linking Messi back to Barcelona after his departure from Paris Saint-Germain in June, the move never materialized. Messi himself expressed his desire to return to Barcelona but admitted that he didn’t want to go through a similar situation as in 2021.
He explained, “I really wanted to return, and I was very excited about it, but at the same time, I didn’t want to find myself in the same position I was in when I left.
I didn’t want to leave my future in someone else’s hands.” He mentioned that while there were reports of La Liga accepting his return, there were still other factors involved, and he ultimately made the decision to join Inter Miami, even though he would have loved to return to Barca.
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