Former FC Barcelona coach
In an interview with La Vanguardia, Xavi explained that the return He was very close to the Argentine star when he was coach of the first team and that they even had direct conversations for several months after the World Cup in Qatar. “Laporta is not telling the truth. He was about to come back with me as coach. He was signed. January 2023. I contacted him after becoming world champion and he told me that he was excited to return,” he said.
According to Xavi, the agreement was practically closed until the president backed down. “We talked until the month of March and I told him ‘when you give me the OK, I’ll tell the president.’ We had the green light from LaLiga, but Laporta threw everything back. He told me verbatim that if Messi returned he was going to make war on him and that he couldn’t afford it,” he said.
The former midfielder and former ‘culer’ coach, who was a teammate of the Argentine, also explained that he tried to contact Messi to understand what happened. “I tried to talk to Leo and he didn’t pick up the phone.. I spoke to the father and told him that I didn’t understand anything and he told me: ‘Talk to the president.’ “Everything was done, it was going to be his ‘last dance’, like Michael Jordan, everything was prepared,” he said.
“Leo doesn’t come to Barça because the president doesn’t want to”
In this sense, Xavi maintained that the Argentine’s return was not frustrated for economic or regulatory reasons, as was pointed out. “My interest is to tell the truth and Leo does not come to Barça because the president does not want to, not because of LaLiga nor because Jorge Messi asks for more moneythat’s a lie. “It is the president and his people who tell him no, that he cannot allow it, that he has all the power and that Messi is going to mismanage that power,” he said.
Furthermore, the Terrassa coach was critical of the way in which his departure from the Blaugrana bench took place and pointed out Alejandro Echevarría, Laporta’s former brother-in-law and the former president’s trusted person in football matters despite not having a position at the club, as a determining figure within the club.
“Get rid of me as a coach without telling me the truthconditioned by a person who I believe is above the president, who is Alejandro Echevarría. That is to say, the one who dispenses with me as coach is Alejandro,” he stated.
He also referred to the sports director, Deco, whom he said he has respect for but that his margin of decision is limited. “I respect him, but he is tied up by Echevarría, who is the one who really decides,” he said.
Laporta responds that it was Messi who refused to return
The Laporta’s response has come during his first electoral debate against Víctor Fontorganized by the Godó group. According to his version, Messi did not sign for Barça then because returning to the Barça club entailed “a lot of pressure” for him, so he preferred to accept the offer from Inter Miami.
“Messi could not be renewed for a basically economic issue. In 2023 Xavi (Hernández) comes, who has spoken with Messi and wants to return. We prepared the contract, we sent it to Jorge Messi (his father) in mid-March, and in May he came to my house and told me that it couldn’t be, because there is a lot of pressure here, that in Arabia they offered him a great contract and he preferred to go to Miami. I told him that I respected his decision,” he said.
“With the same players Xavi lost and Flick wins”
Besides Laporta commented that Xavi’s words “hurt and surprised” him. although he has commented that “the facts give him peace of mind”, since they have shown that he did “what he had to do”.
“I understand that he is hurt because, with the same players, Xavi lost and Flick wins,” added Laporta, who He regretted that the Terrassa coach had “let himself be used” by Fontsecond in the 2021 elections and the only candidate to unseat Laporta and who has the public support of Xavi in these elections.
Furthermore, the former president has defended the role within the club of his former brother-in-law Alejandro Echevarría, who does not have an official position: “He is of my utmost confidence, especially in relation to LaLiga and the Federation. He is in tune with Deco, he cares about the stability of the locker room. He has a great ability to solve problems.”
Laporta added that it was, precisely, Echevarría and vice president Rafael Yuste who “defended the Egarense coach to the end,” and has delved into the reasons why he fired him in 2024.
“Xavi himself explains the reasons why I had to fire him: he relaxed and couldn’t balance work life with family life. In addition, he said that Barça would not be competitive in two years against Madrid or in Europe. “He asked to change important players, he said that the squad was not competitive, he was permanently dissatisfied with it.”he has argued.
Víctor Font and Xavi, together in the campaign
For your partFont, whom Laporta has accused of “dirtying the campaign”, has described Xavi’s statements as “an act of bravery and Barcelonaism”and has said that “thousands of culers are sad about this Barça of one against another, governed by lies.”
“We give credibility to the legends of the club. Messi thinks as Xavi has explained. The former president has a long history of lies and unfulfilled promises. Breaking relations with the best player in history for personal interests, opening this wound for thousands of Barcelona fans, is one of the most regrettable things that this institution has suffered in recent years,” he added.
Xavi, “hurt” with Laporta
In his interview, Xavi already declared that he felt hurt by some previous statements by former president Laporta about his time at the head of the team. “I have been holding on, but the president is saying that I wanted ten dismissals and it is not true. What I want is for the member to understand that this is happening within Barça and, with my hand on my heart, that the club needs a change from top to bottomstructure, professionalism…”, lamented Xavi while reiterating his support for Víctor Font.
Despite everything, the coach claimed the legacy of his time on the bench and the foundations that, in his opinion, he left for the current project. “We laid a very good for this project to have continuity. The backbone of the team is made up of Lamine, Pedri, Balde, Cubarsí, Fermín… People we bet on. It is one of the legacies of which I feel most proud, beyond the two titles we won,” he explained.
Along the same lines, he highlighted the relationship he maintained with the locker room during his time as coach. “We were a family in the locker room, I have always stood up to the footballers. Now you see Fermín, Lamine, who for me is already the best in the worldto Raphinha, who we changed position so that he could attack the depth…”, he commented.
However, Xavi also acknowledged mistakes during his time at the head of the team. “Of course we did things wrong, we have done a lot of self-criticism, me personally and then with the staff through meetings. To make a short summary I would say that my demands regarding the club went from more to less. While we had the upper hand the team was going up; to what they began to decide, the team, and not by chance, went down,” he concluded.
Xavi, very present in a tense electoral debate between Laporta and Font
In the aforementioned electoral face-to-face organized by the Godó group on Monday morning, Laporta and Font have not only clashed over Xavi’s statements but also over the sports project, the agreement with Nike, the ‘levers’ (sale of assets) that the previous board of directors approved and they have reached a exchange of personal attacks between both.
Font has promised that he will not carry the club “in his pocket”, while Laporta has described his opponent as “mestretites (wise) of chicken-like flight” and to explain some lies about his management that, in his opinion, “discredit” him to be president of the Barça club.
