Lionel Messi seems to be stalling an official farewell tribute at the Camp Nou, at least as far as former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart is concerned. Messi, who played for Argentina for the last time in international football last week, has been accused of stalling his return to Camp Nou for a farewell, having spent 21 years of his glorious career with the Catalan club. Gaspart, issuing a warning to Messi, said that the 39-year-old shouldn’t forget that the club Barcelona is bigger than him.
It has been widely reported that Messi and Joan Laporta, Barcelona’s current president, share a frosty relationship since the Argentine’s exit from the club in 2021. However, Gaspart has urged Messi to put the ‘politics’ behind him.
“Leo is an undeniable footballer, the best in the world, and a great player. There is only one thing he must not forget: Barcelona is bigger than him, and he should be careful, he should be careful,” said Gaspart, the man who signed Messi for Barcelona when the latter was just 13.
“I say this out of the historical love I have for a player I signed when he was 13 and I was Barca president: he should be careful. Barca is bigger than him as an individual.”
“He is a great player, the best in the world, partly – I won’t say what percentage – thanks to Barca. Therefore, he cannot forget that. Because of that, I’m still giving him a grace period, but a day will come when it will start to bother me if Mr Messi puts even the slightest obstacle in the way of coming to Barca to say goodbye to the fans.
Gaspart said that Messi can’t set conditions over his return to Camp Nou.
“Whoever the president may be, whoever the president may be, he must come and say goodbye to Barca. If Leo Messi only comes to say goodbye the day Laporta is no longer here, and refuses to come because Laporta is the president, I wouldn’t give him a tribute. Who does he think he is? To make coming to Barcelona conditional on whether Laporta is there or not. If Laporta wasn’t there [because of that condition], I wouldn’t attend that tribute.”
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