Joan Gaspart Takes Aim at Messi Over Barcelona Farewell

When Lionel Messi walked out of Barcelona’s locker rooms for the last time in August 2021, the world watched a chapter close on what many called the club’s golden era. Yet, three years later, the silence that followed his departure is louder than any press conference.

On a recent episode of the podcast “Sólo para Culés,” former club president Joan Gaspart—who was at the helm when a teenage Messi signed his first, napkin‑size contract—let his frustration spill over. “Who does he think he is?” Gaspart asked, questioning why Messi seems to make his potential return to Camp Nou conditional on who is running the club.

Gaspart’s gripe isn’t just about a personal slight. He points to the fact that Messi has not set foot inside the stadium in daylight since his exit. The one time the legend was seen on the pitch again was under the cover of night, allowed by a group of builders rather than any official Barça invitation. To Gaspart, that darkness is symbolic of the strained relationship between the player and current president Joan Lapota.

Laporta, who reclaimed the presidency in 2021 after Josep Maria Bartomeu’s disastrous tenure, has been under fire himself. He says Messi’s contract simply couldn’t be renewed because the club’s finances were in shambles—COVID‑19 hit revenues, mounting debt, and La Liga’s salary cap left little room for the Argentine’s wages. “It wasn’t what I would have liked—but it simply couldn’t be, for economic reasons,” Laporta told reporters at the time.

Messi, however, never seemed bitter. He made it clear that a return to Barcelona remained his dream, even after a stint with Paris Saint‑Germain. When talks of a comeback resurfaced in 2023, Laporta claimed that Messi’s father, Jorge, backed a move to Miami instead, pulling the plug on a deal that supposedly had La Liga’s blessing.

That narrative was aggressively challenged by Xavi Hernández, the former teammate who was managing Barcelona in 2023. “The president isn’t telling the truth,” Xavi said, insisting the contract had been ready, that the league had signed off, and that Laporta himself walked away from the agreement. “He told me verbatim he would wage war against Messi if he came back,” Xavi added, casting the president in a hostile light.

Gaspart, for his part, tries to balance admiration with admonition. “He is the best player in the world, partly thanks to Barça,” he said on the podcast. “But Barcelona is bigger than any one man. He must be careful not to forget that.” He goes on to warn that if Messi only appears to bid farewell after Laporta steps down, Gaspart would refuse to attend any tribute. “If Leo only comes when Laporta is no longer president, I won’t be there,” he declared.

The debate taps into deeper issues of loyalty, legacy, and club governance. Messi’s departure was a symptom of years of mismanagement, yet many fans still see him as the embodiment of Barcelona’s identity. Laporta, meanwhile, wrestles with restoring the club’s financial health while appeasing a fanbase that still chants Messi’s name.

So far, Messi has kept his distance, replying to queries with brief statements that focus on his current project in the United States and on his family. Whether he will ever step onto the Camp Nou turf again—under daylight, under a banner, or at all—remains a question that both Gaspart and Laporta seem eager to answer, each from opposite ends of the same stadium.

In the meantime, the stadium lights stay on, the banners still bear his name, and the conversation keeps circling. Perhaps, like any good drama, the resolution will come when the parties finally agree on who writes the next chapter.