Why Messi didn’t return to Barcelona — President Joan Laporta

Messi arrived Barcelona as a 14-year-old prodigy in 2000. By the time he left 21 later, he had amassed a cabinet-full of trophies and personal laurels, among which are seven Ballon d’Or.

After two pressure-soaked seasons at Paris Saint-Germaine, Lionel Messi was heavily linked to an emotional return to his childhood club.

However, the Argentina skipper moved to Major League Soccer, MLS, side Inter Miami, co-owned by another football legend, David Beckham.

While Messi’s move to the United States shocked football fans, for Barcelona president Joan Laporta it was quite a “strange feeling” to see Messi in Inter Miami shirt.

Laporta told ESPN: “It was very close. We had to manage our financial fair play situation so we needed time.

“At the end, we reached an agreement with La Liga that authorised us to add him to the squad. But Leo was coming from a situation in Paris where he was under a lot of pressure.

“His father told me that he needed a place where he won’t be under pressure and at Barca that would not be the case because of the meaning of the return of our hero.”