Joan Laporta of FC Barcelona
Joan Laporta of FC Barcelona
Joan Laporta’s fractured relationship with Lionel Messi is well documented. Following his unceremonious exit in 2021, the Argentine star has always held resentment towards the Barça president.
Laporta, for his part, has remained relatively quiet on Messi compared to most Barcelona presidents in the past. And that has been evident in the way Barcelona’s official handles communicated Messi.
However, in the wake of Messi’s recent visit to Spain, the club have acknowledged and congratulated the Inter Miami superstar on being awarded the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports.
Barcelona hailed the achievement, warmly saluting a career that spanned both football and philanthropy.
“Leo, congratulations on being awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports for 2026, a well-deserved recognition of your soccer and humanitarian career,” the club said in a statement.
Congratulations Leo Messi for the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports.
Richly deserved recognition for your outstanding talent, which has left a lasting impact both on and off the pitch, making you a benchmark in world football due to your excellence, commitment to sport… pic.twitter.com/XRVUUDlQvf
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 23, 2026
Barcelona went on to highlight the mark Messi left on the club.
“With your talent, you contributed to making FC Barcelona, the club of your life, greater and greater, yesterday, today, and always,” it added.
Barcelona closed with an emotional nod to a partnership he hopes will endure forever.
“Messi and Barcelona, Barcelona and Messi, a shared success story that we all as Barça fans feel deeply proud of and hope will be eternal,” the statement concluded.
Lionel Messi of Argentina
Messi’s farewell game at Barcelona looks difficult at the moment. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Despite Barcelona’s warm words, it will do little to recover a fractured relationship between the club and Messi.
As things stand, Barcelona are not planning a tribute or farewell match for Messi, with the relationship between the Argentine and the board still deeply strained since the 2021 departure.
That exit, forced by La Liga’s financial regulations rather than any sporting decision, left a wound that has yet to fully heal.
Still, there is a flicker of hope. Laporta has never entirely closed the door, having previously insisted Messi “deserves a statue at Camp Nou” and expressed a desire to mend the relationship.
The president has even suggested a public tribute could materialise once the Camp Nou renovation is complete.
The sentiment is certainly shared by the dressing room, with Pedri among those calling for a grand farewell for a man he labelled the greatest of all time.