Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font says the very first thing he’ll do if he wins subsequent 12 months’s election is decide up the telephone to Lionel Messi.
The membership is making ready for presidential elections in 2026, with Font as soon as once more positioning himself because the main challenger to Joan Laporta. The 53-year-old businessman was crushed by Laporta in 2021 however stays a frontrunner within the race to take cost of the Catalan aspect.
Chatting with El Mundo Deportivo, Font stated: “The primary name I’ll make once we win the elections can be to Leo Messi. It is going to be the primary telephone name I make.”
Messi, now 38, introduced an abrupt finish to his lengthy Barcelona profession when monetary restrictions compelled him to hitch Paris Saint-Germain in 2021. The World Cup winner is at the moment with Inter Miami however returned to Barcelona final week whereas on worldwide obligation, even paying a brief go to to the Camp Nou.
His departure from La Liga strained his relationship with Laporta, and Messi has since admitted that leaving Barcelona in that method was not how he imagined his farewell.
Laporta has acknowledged {that a} enjoying return for Messi is “not reasonable,” although Font seems extra open to the likelihood.
As a lifelong supporter, Font says he understands what Messi means to the membership. “Personally, as a Barca fan, I get goosebumps, however clearly this is determined by him, and what we shouldn’t do is attempt to use him,” he stated.
“I believe Laporta has accomplished it, and he’s accomplished it many occasions, and I believe he’s accomplished it incorrect; probably the most blatant instance was through the elections.”
Font criticised Laporta’s earlier guarantees, recalling statements the president made through the 2021 marketing campaign suggesting Messi would solely keep if he returned to energy. “That was one other instance of a damaged promise,” Font added.
If he’s elected, Font says reconnecting with Messi could be a precedence. “I consider Messi shouldn’t be used, however Messi must know that the very first thing I’ll do if I win the elections is decide up the telephone and name him.
“We have to embrace Leo Messi and do the whole lot attainable to make sure that, as quickly as attainable, he has the function at Barca that, as he stated final week, he needs and that every one Barca followers could be thrilled about.”
Laporta not too long ago proposed constructing a statue of Messi on the renovated Camp Nou as a part of a wider tribute. Font, nevertheless, believes such a gesture would barely scratch the floor of what the membership owes its iconic No. 10. “Having a statue of him doesn’t even start to cowl it,” he stated.
