Messi chooses Barcelona over Saudi Arabia - Joan Laporta

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 16 May 2023 10:03 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has scoffed at the chances of Lionel Messi moving to Saudi Arabia and is confident of bringing the Argentine back to Camp Nou this summer.

Barca are currently embroiled in a two-way battle for Messi’s signature with Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal.

But Laporta, who revealed he recently had a positive talk with Messi, insists that the 35-year-old will choose Barcelona as his next club.

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What did Laporta say about Messi?

“It was very nice. We have recovered the relationship. Messi wants Barça, he feels this club is his home,” Laporta said.

"History backs us, the feelings are too strong, we have 400 million fans around the world too.

"He is a PSG player and we have to wait until the end of the season, until it is over, and then we can talk more calmly about this.

"With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and it is home.

"The club is following an austerity plan, but we are working hard to build a competitive team for next season. We will see if La Liga approve our viability plan."

Messi’s contract at PSG expires at the end of the season and it is now widely accepted he will leave on a free transfer next month.

Barcelona are currently working on a deal to bring Messi back to Camp Nou on a Bosman transfer, two years after he left to join PSG.

But a transfer will be difficult because of Barcelona’s well-publicised financial crisis.

Barcelona are working with LaLiga chiefs to try and make the signing viable, and the club executives have presented a financial plan with cost-cutting measures to convince the league that it can afford Messi.

Part of this includes massive salary cuts so that Barcelona can afford to register Messi.

Messi is also a confirmed target for Al-Hilal and has been in negotiations over joining them on a free transfer for several weeks.

It has been reported that Al-Hilal have offered Messi a contract in the region of €400 million a year.

This would be a world record salary but Laporta is confident that Messi will indeed return to Barcelona.