Xavi Hernandez Reveals Joan Laporta Personally Blocked Lionel Messi’s Return to Barcelona in 2023

Lionel Messi’s potential return to Barcelona in 2023 was derailed not by financial constraints, but by a direct refusal from club president Joan Laporta — at least according to former manager Xavi Hernandez, who has broken his silence on the matter in a series of candid public statements.

Speaking on a YouTube channel, Xavi detailed the extent of his efforts to repatriate several of the club’s most iconic former players during his tenure as head coach. “As Barcelona manager, I brought back Dani Alves and tried to bring Neymar, Pedro and Messi back as well,” he said. “Pedro and Neymar couldn’t be signed because of the economic situation. As for Messi, the president didn’t want him back. We tried to sign Messi in 2023. We talked for five months, and everything was ready, but in the end, the president said no.”

The claim is significant. Messi had originally departed Barcelona in the summer of 2021 under circumstances shaped by the club’s severe financial difficulties and the constraints imposed by Spanish La Liga’s financial fair play regulations, which prevented the Catalan side from registering a new contract despite both parties reportedly agreeing to terms. He subsequently joined Paris Saint-Germain, where he won the French Ligue 1 title, before departing for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami ahead of the 2023 season.

Xavi’s account introduces a new dimension to the narrative surrounding Messi’s failure to return to Camp Nou. While the economic explanation has long been cited as the primary obstacle, the former midfielder’s version suggests that by 2023, negotiations had progressed to an advanced stage — spanning five months — before presidential intervention ended the pursuit. That version of events places direct responsibility on Laporta, who has since publicly pushed back on Xavi’s characterisation of events, with the Barça president reportedly describing the comments as a “betrayal” by the former coach.

During his time in the dugout, Xavi did successfully engineer the return of Dani Alves, the former right-back who had been a key figure in some of Barcelona’s most celebrated sides. However, his broader ambition of reassembling a generation of club legends ultimately fell short, with the bids for Neymar, Pedro, and Messi all failing to materialise for varying reasons.

Messi, now 37, remains at Inter Miami, where he has continued to perform at an elite level in MLS. He recently moved closer to Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time career goals record after netting a brace in an Inter Miami victory. His contract situation in the United States and any future club move beyond the 2025 MLS season continues to attract widespread speculation.

The latest revelations from Xavi add further complexity to an already fractured relationship between the former manager and the Barcelona hierarchy. Xavi was eventually relieved of his duties at the club, capping a turbulent final period in charge that was marked by inconsistent results and reported tensions with club leadership. Laporta’s public rebuttal suggests that the dispute between the two figures remains far from resolved.

For Barcelona supporters, the disclosure raises uncomfortable questions about decision-making at executive level during a period when the club was attempting to rebuild its identity and competitive standing following years of financial mismanagement. Whether Messi’s return in 2023 would have transformed that trajectory remains a matter of conjecture, but Xavi’s account ensures the debate will persist.