Barcelona president Joan Laporta has claimed that the club was in could have re-signed Lionel Messi despite their financial constraints but certain conditions didn’t favour the player’s situation.
Messi left Paris Saint Germain to join Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer (MLS) where he has already begun on a good note scoring three in two games.
Prior to his departure, the footballer was thought to be on the verge of rejoining with his boyhood club Barcelona, where he had spent the majority of his career and won multiple awards.
While further reports suggested, the club had no financial grounds to get Messi, Laporta says the case was different as they had sorted out the financial fair play issues with authorities.
“It was very close,” the Barca chief told ESPN.
“We had to manage our financial fair play situation so we needed time. At the end, we reached an agreement with LaLiga that authorised us to add him to the squad.
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“But Leo was coming from a situation in Paris where he was under a lot of pressure. His father told me that he needed a place where he won’t be under pressure and at Barca that would not be the case because of the meaning of the return of our hero,” he explained.
Having spent 18 years with Barcelona, Messi won 35 trophies including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies.