Joan Laporta confirms extent of Barcelona's debt to Lionel Messi
- Messi left Barcelona in 2021
- Barcelona's financial difficulties were at their worst at that point
- Argentine forward rejected the chance to return this summer
By Tom Gott
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed the club are still paying Lionel Messi the outstanding salary he is owed and will continue to do so into 2025.
Messi, who left Barcelona in 2021, was among the first batch of players to agree to defer their salaries under the club's previous president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, in an attempt to ease their mounting financial difficulties.
Those economic problems ultimately forced Messi to leave in 2021 when an agreed contract could not be registered and contributed to his decision not to return this summer.
Despite not playing for the club for two years, Messi is still getting paid by Barcelona and is owed money right up until 2025.
"What is owed to him is the deferral of the salary bill that was agreed with the previous board and that produces pending payments that end in 2025," Laporta told La Vanguardia. "He is paid religiously."
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Barcelona have previously claimed that Messi's decision to reject a return to Barcelona in favour of a move to Inter Miami stemmed from a desire to step away from the spotlight, and Laporta went on to double-down on that claim.
"We had an agreement with La Liga that we would dedicate part of the resources we have to Messi. It was contemplated within the feasibility plan," Laporta explained.
"We communicated it to Jorge Messi. He told me that Leo had spent a very difficult year in Paris and that he wanted less pressure. With our option, he would have continued to have pressure and I understood his decision.
"Let him do very well [in Miami] and we will begin to prepare his super tribute. Within the framework of the 125th anniversary and when we return to the Camp Nou it would be perfect."
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