Lionel Messi’s brother claims he will NOT go back to Barcelona unless ‘Joan Laporta is kicked out’

Lionel Messi’s brother has claimed the former Barcelona star will not return to the Camp Nou unless club president Joan Laporta is ousted.

Messi spent more than two decades at the Camp Nou after starting out at the academy before the financial chaos surrounding the Spanish team forced him to leave as a free agent in the summer of 2021.

Following Messi’s departure, Barça, which continues to be plagued by financial instability, had just elected Laporta for his second term as president.

Laporta had promised he could persuade Messi to stay but was unable to navigate the financial issues of keeping him at the Camp Nou, forcing the Argentine to reluctantly leave the club in an emotional news conference.

The striker, who most recently shone as Argentina won the World Cup, finally joined French giants Paris Saint-Germain over the summer and is now beginning to find his footing in the French capital after a disappointing first season.

Lionel Messi’s brother Matías (second left) believes the PSG star will not return to Barcelona

Lionel Messi is currently the protagonist of Paris Saint-Germain in France after signing in 2021

Joan Laporta promised to try to stay with Messi in 2021 after his return to Real Madrid

Messi has been consistently linked with a return to the Camp Nou since his contract expired, but his brother Matías believes there is no chance of that unless Laporta can be removed from office.

Speaking on his son’s Twitch channel, matias said: ”I have a clipping from SPORT that says “Messi should return to Barcelona” and below it I put “Hahaha”. We are not going to return to Barcelona, ​​​​and if we do, we are going to have a good settlement, throwing out, among others, Joan Laporta who is ungrateful after everything Messi did for Barcelona.

‘People [in Barcelona] did not support it. People should have gone out to do a march or something, let Laporta leave and Messi stay. The Catalans are traitors.

Messi’s brother then made an extraordinary claim that Barcelona only became a globally recognized team due to the 35-year-old’s contributions to the club where he won 10 LaLiga titles and four Champions League trophies between its highlights.

“Barcelona began to be recognized worldwide thanks to Messi, before people only knew Madrid,” he said.

After leaving Barcelona, ​​Messi was linked with many of Europe’s top clubs, including Manchester City, but was reportedly in talks about an unexpected move to Inter Milan.

Inter legend Javier Zanetti held talks with his former international teammate with the Nerazzurri’s vice-president, stating that a deal could not be reached because they did not have the finances to compete with their rivals.

“I was surprised when he [Messi] left Barcelona’, Zanetti told DAZN, quoted by calciomercato.com.

Messi played much of his senior career for Barcelona after joining as a child in 2000.

But he was unable to sign a new deal due to financial problems which led to an emotional send-off.

He continued: “Realistically, we can’t compete with PSG or the Premier League clubs, but because of our relationship, we spoke when there was an opportunity.”

It comes as PSG sporting director Luis Campos confirmed that the club is in talks with Messi about a new contract.

Messi will become a free agent at the end of the season and has been linked with a move away from the French club in recent months.

Reports had suggested that he was set to join Inter Miami in America, while the former Barcelona player has always been keen to bring him back to Spain.

However, he has not shown any clear desire to leave PSG, and it seems likely that he will extend his contract in Paris.