Khaberni - Joan Laporta, the resigned president of Barcelona, reveals in his book titled "How We Saved Barcelona", that the Argentine star Lionel Messi refused to return to the Catalan club and preferred moving to Inter Miami.
Laporta, who resigned in order to be able to run for another term, discusses how he confronted a challenging financial situation that required innovative solutions to rectify, and "Marca" newspaper obtained a copy of the book from publishing sources, explaining its key points.
Among the toughest challenges faced by Laporta, which is still ongoing, is Messi's departure, and he said: When it was time for renewal negotiations, we faced a team that required a lot, and although Messi’s father was more understanding, the player's entourage gave a different impression.
He added: We came up with a crazy solution, which was for the player to sign a long-term contract, starting with a playing period for Barcelona followed by a loan to an American league club, which seemed like circumventing the laws of the Spanish league, but the league rejected the idea, and told us that it was necessary to sign an agreement to sell a share of television broadcasting rights for fifty years through a fund called "CVC.
He continued: There was a possibility for the player to return after his stint with Paris Saint-Germain, and Jorge Messi came to my house, and I prepared a contract for him, and sent him a draft, but he did not respond.
Laporta concluded: A week went by, then another, and then a month, where he finally came to my house to tell me that they had decided that Messi would go to Inter Miami, where he would not be under much pressure.
