Messi return ‘unrealistic’, says Barca president Laporta

Barcelona all-time great Lionel Messi returning to the Catalan giants is “unrealistic”, the club’s president Joan Laporta said Wednesday, AFP reported.

The 38-year-old Argentine superstar made a surprise appearance at Barca’s Camp Nou stadium on Sunday night and said he hoped “one day I can return, and not just to say goodbye as a player, as I never got to do”.

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi, Barca’s record goalscorer and appearance maker, left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 after two decades there because their precarious financial position meant they could not afford to keep him, according to AFP.