‘This Proposal Excites Him’—Lionel Messi’s Barcelona Reconciliation Teased

Messi’s stance in Barcelona’s upcoming presidential election has been reportedly revealed.

Lionel Messi has been kept at a distance from Barcelona since leaving the club in 2021. | ESTEBAN VEGA LA-ROTTA/AFP/Getty Images

Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font has claimed that his proposal to strike some vague form of arrangement with Lionel Messi to rekindle his relationship with the club “excites” the legendary former player.

Font has taken a front-footed approach to his presidential campaign. As the election frenzy ramps up, Joan Laporta’s closest challenger has lambasted every aspect of his competitor’s tenure. Alongside financial mismanagement and a far too friendly relationship with Real Madrid, Laporta’s fractured relationship with Messi has been used as a key touchpoint for Font.

Barça’s all-time leading scorer caught Laporta and the rest of his board by surprise when he snuck into the renovated Camp Nou back in November without any permission from the club. “I hope I can return someday,” he wrote on social media, “and not just to say goodbye as a player, like I never got to...” Font is keen to frame himself as the candidate to oversee that reconciliation.

“The best player in history, a Barça fan, the fact that we’ve broken ties with him and he has to sneak into Camp Nou ... the relationship with him is truly broken, unlike with Real Madrid,” Font told the El Larguero radio show on Cadena SER.

“Reconciling Barça with Messi should have been a priority for some time now.

“We’ve been working for a couple of years to heal that wound as quickly as possible. But not only from a moral and emotional standpoint, but also from a commercial and institutional one, there’s a project we’ll launch in March. How does Messi see it? I’m convinced he’ll be incredibly excited. We’ve heard that this type of proposal excites him.”

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Messi ‘Takes Stance’ on Barcelona’s Presidential Elections

Lionel Messi secretly visited Camp Nou. | Instagram/leomessi

Laporta has freely admitted that his relationship with Messi is frosty. “The situation makes me sad,” he reflected in December. “Leo gave so much to Barcelona and Barcelona gave so much to Leo. I hope we reconcile.”

After appearing to back Laporta’s return as president in March 2021, Messi then found himself forced out of the club after the freshly appointed chief claimed that there was no room in the budget for a renewal of his contract. The pair have only spoken once over the subsequent five years.

Messi will play the role of neutral onlooker for this year’s election, according to SPORT. The Argentine forward has been at pains to avoid mentioning any of the candidates by name and is expected to not even vote.

The sway Messi would have on the outcome of the election cannot be understated. Boasting a status in the city that verges on the divine, any candidate with Messi’s backing would swiftly become the outright favorite. In the absence of the icon’s support, Font has taken the familiar option of delivering empty promises.

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Haaland and a New Manager: Font’s Big Ideas

Erling Haaland’s future features in the gossip. | Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images

Real Madrid’s current incumbent Florentino Pérez infamously secured his first presidential term in 2000 by promising to sign Barcelona’s star forward Luís Figo in what proved to be a world-record transfer. The savvy businessman locked the Portuguese star and his agent into a legally binding contract which eventually forced him to cross the fierce Clásico divide. In reality, most similar proposals delivered on the campaign trail prove to be as legitimate as any other political manifesto.

“We’ve identified three or four positions that would be good to reinforce, one of them being center back,” Font claimed. “Personally, as a striker, I really like [Erling] Haaland, because I think he’s the prototype of a center forward. Is he a potential signing for Barça? I haven’t inquired about it. The sporting project works by talking to clubs. I don’t think [Manchester] City wants to sell Haaland.”

That would be correct.

However, there may be more merit in a managerial shakeup.

Font’s standing on Barcelona boss Hansi Flick is strained. The candidate admitted that he hasn’t spoken to the German boss and has publicly promised to get rid of his trusted sporting director Deco, prompting speculation that the coach may resign. Font hailed Flick as “an integral part of the magnificent performance the team is achieving” but swiftly undermined that mealy-mouthed stance by talking up his potential successors.

“Luis Enrique? He’s a great coach and fits the kind of sporting project Barça should have, just like Flick, [Pep] Guardiola, [Mikel] Arteta, Cesc [Fàbregas],” Font mused.

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