Five years after a departure nobody could have imagined, and without ever getting the chance to say goodbye to the fans on the pitch, the club still intends to bring the Argentine back to Camp Nou. This time, it would not be to play an official match, but to receive the tribute Joan Laporta believes the most important player in the club's history deserves.
Laporta Wants Messi Back at Camp Nou
The story between Lionel Messi and Barcelona still has one chapter left to be written.
The Barcelona president spoke about Messi again this Saturday during the club's Ordinary General Assembly and confirmed that the club has already informed the Argentine of its intention to organize a farewell once the stadium renovation is fully completed.
According to Laporta’s comments published by Sport, the scenario Barça envisions is enormous: a completed Spotify Camp Nou with nearly 105,000 fans in the stands ready to reunite with their No. 10.
Messi Will Have the Final Say
Laporta made it clear that Barcelona wants the tribute to happen, but also stressed that nothing will take place without the Argentine's approval.
“We told Messi that we would like to pay tribute to him once the stadium is completed,” the president explained, according to Sport.
The plan is to wait until the new Spotify Camp Nou can operate at full capacity. The project continues to move forward, and the club considers the completion of the stadium one of the fundamental pieces of its institutional and financial future.
Then, one of the images still missing from Messi’s history with Barcelona could finally become a reality: seeing him back on the stadium's pitch in front of a completely packed crowd, this time solely to recognize everything he accomplished during more than two decades connected to the club.
“We will pay tribute to him when the stadium is finished, as long as he wants it,” Laporta added.
A Farewell Barcelona Still Owes Messi
The desire to organize the tribute also stems from the circumstances surrounding the end of Messi’s first chapter as a Barcelona player.
The Argentine left Barcelona in the summer of 2021 after the club was unable to register the new contract they had negotiated. His farewell ultimately came in an emotional press conference filled with tears, far removed from the massive tribute a career of that magnitude deserved.
Messi left after becoming the club's all-time leading scorer and winning virtually everything possible in a Barcelona shirt.
That is why, even as the years pass, Barcelona still believes that story needs a different ending.
Laporta also recalled that there was later a possibility for the Argentine to play another season with the club, but Messi ultimately chose a different path.
The New Camp Nou Awaits Its No. 10
The tribute still does not have a definitive date.
Barcelona’s priority is to fully complete the renovation of Spotify Camp Nou. Only then will the time come to try to reunite Messi with the Blaugrana supporters.
The president also used the occasion to remember Jorge Messi, the Argentine's father, who passed away on August 8, and publicly offered his condolences to the family.
“My deepest condolences and a special thought for his father, an exceptional person,” Laporta said, in comments published by Sport.
Beyond any differences that may have existed since that difficult departure in 2021, the message coming from Barcelona now is much simpler.
The club wants to see Messi back at Camp Nou.
Not to begin another chapter, but to give the greatest one of all the ending it deserves.
