FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta has finally addressed the bizarre comments made by Lionel Messi’s older brother, Matias Messi. Matia’s comments have riled up a lot of Barcelona fans. The comments have caused huge controversy as recently, Messi has been linked with a move back to Barcelona. The PSG star’s contract at PSG expires in 2023, and there have been various transfer rumors.
Joan Laporta was asked to comment on this incident during a press conference in Barcelona on Thursday afternoon. Laporta said, “Leo Messi is Barca’s patrimony and we are proud of it, [he is] the best in the world and in history. Don’t make me talk about Messi, he belongs to PSG and I don’t want to comment on footballers who are at another club.”
Barça president Laporta: “Leo Messi is part of Barcelona history. He belongs to PSG so I will not speak, I respect them”. 🇦🇷 #FCB
“His brother has apologized, this story and his words will have no impact on the club’s relationship with Messi”. pic.twitter.com/1ofcXgW4lO
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 9, 2023
Laporta further stated, “I take away all the importance of the thing with his brother and he has apologized. Everything he has said is understandable and I don’t think about it anymore.” There has been bad blood between Lionel Messi and Laporta recently. It is rumored that Messi’s entourage blames Laporta for the Argentine star’s shock exit from Barcelona.
What did Matias Messi comment about FC Barcelona?
Matias Messi appeared on his son’s Twitch channel a couple of days back (@labajada10). During the stream, Matias made several comments about FC Barcelona. Matias said, “Barcelona began to be known because of Messi because before, no one knew it, they knew [Real] Madrid… That they would [re]pay him like that is not good.” Matias also addressed the transfer rumors of Messi‘s return to the Spanish club.
🎙️ Matias Messi, Leo’s brother: “I don’t know about you, but Barcelona became known thanks to Messi. Nobody knew about them before.” 👀 pic.twitter.com/jDQ2Z80bkp
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) February 8, 2023
The 40-year-old said, “We will not return to Barcelona, and if we do, we will return to do a good cleaning. Among them, we will send Laporta out. How ungrateful, with everything Messi gave to Barcelona. The people should have gone out to make a march so that Laporta leaves and Messi stays. The Spanish are lukewarm and the Catalans are traitors. My mum told Lionel once: ‘They’re going to pay you like Ronaldinho’.”
However, Matias has proceeded to apologize for his statements. He recently posted his comments on Instagram, saying, “I want to apologize for what I said on social media, I was just joking with my son and friends.” It has been reported that Messi’s entourage has also decided to distance themselves from Matias’s comments. Although, there has been no official comment from Lionel Messi yet.