Lionel Messi added another milestone to his long list of achievements by winning a record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or on October 30, 2023. The Argentine was embraced by several soccer stars at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris. However, it has been reported that he ignored his former club’s president Joan Laporta.
X account @AlbicelesteTalk has posted an update on the situation. The wrote, “JUST IN: Laporta has asked Messi for a picture after the ceremony at the Ballon d’Or gala, but Messi walked away. Leo still feels betrayed by Laporta. [Source] @GuillemBalague”
🚨 JUST IN: Laporta has asked Messi for a picture after the ceremony at the Ballon d’Or gala, but Messi walked away. Leo still feels betrayed by Laporta. @GuillemBalague ❌📸🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/k5a4PxfpE2
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) November 3, 2023
According to the X account, journalist Guillem Balague said, “Messi was taking pictures with Aitana Bonmatí and Laporta was nearby smiling and wanted to talk and have picture with Messi, but Messi ignored him and walked away.”
Messi left Barcelona in an extremely emotional manner in the summer of 2021. Many believe that Laporta did not do enough to keep Messi at his boyhood club—reports suggesting that he snubbed Laporta claim that Messi still has bad blood with Laporta because of it. However, a few days ago, Messi forced journalist Gerard Moreno to apologize for his false reporting regarding Laporta.
Lionel Messi recently slammed Gerard Moreno for reporting false news regarding him and Joan Laporta
Jijantes FC reported that Messi and Laporta had a conversation during the Ballon d’Or ceremony. The report stated that Messi and Laporta talked about having a tribute for Messi at Camp Nou. However, Messi denied those reports. He took to his Instagram stories to tell the journalist responsible that he was lying again.
MIL DISCUPAS a todos, y MIL MÁS.
Me han vuelto a engañar con algo relacionado con LEO. No aprendo. Lo siento. MUY jodido.
Asumo todo los que hoy me digáis y prometo que trabajaremos para que no vuelva a ocurrir.
Disculpas https://t.co/j1lM5kvV0Q
— Gerard Romero (@gerardromero) October 31, 2023
Gerard Romero, the journalist responsible for the report, apologized on X. He wrote, “A THOUSAND APOLOGIES to all, and A THOUSAND MORE. I have been fooled again with something related to LEO. I’m not learning. I’m sorry. VERY f***ed up. I accept everything you tell me today and I promise that we will work to ensure that it does not happen again.”
❗️There was a reason and not a coincidence why Messi denied Gerard Romero’s info about him and Laporta publicly on his Instagram. @GuillemBalague 📲 pic.twitter.com/oaxNbSzw0F
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) November 3, 2023
According to Balague, Messi was ignoring Laporta and that is why he took to Instagram to deny reports of him having a conversation with the Barcelona president.
Lionel Messi will never return to Europe again
There have been several reports recently stating that Messi is ready to come back to FC Barcelona on loan from Inter Miami. If he conversed with Laporta in reality then this is one discussion they would have surely had. However, there was no such conversation as Messi is done with Europe.
🚨 Messi: “Is European football closed for you? Yes. Thanks to God, I had an extraordinary career in Europe and won everything I have dreamed of”.
“Now that I have decided to come to USA, I don’t think I will ever return to playing in Europe”, he told L’Équipé. pic.twitter.com/OdVTMXjGPh
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 4, 2023
In an interview with L’Equipe, Messi claimed that his time in Europe was over. Messi said: “Yes. Thanks to God, I had an extraordinary career in Europe and won everything I have dreamed of. Now that I have decided to come to USA, I don’t think I will ever return to playing in Europe.”
He also addressed rumors about a potential return to Xavi’s team. “I could have returned, but it wasn’t like that. It was something similar to what happened in 2021. It was very similar to having to go to Paris [Saint-Germain] in 2021. I thought about returning to Barca, about my life there, about retiring there as I always wanted, but it wasn’t possible.”
Noche d’Or 💫 8️⃣
Come join us as we celebrate history at @drvpnkstadium!
Next Friday, Nov. 10th we will commemorate Messi’s historic eighth Ballon d’Or with a night full of festivities featuring a friendly match against New York City FC, and an afterparty by @fiestabresh!… pic.twitter.com/mNAPBEm6C2
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) November 3, 2023
Messi is set to fly back to the USA soon as Inter Miami will commemorate their star man and his award. The club announced on their official X account that Messi’s commemoration will take place along with a friendly match with New York City on Friday, November 10, 2023.