The clamp of Mateu Alemany, Xavi (and Messi) in Laporta

BarcelonaWith just four days to go before the Barça presidential elections, Leo Messi remains the talk of the town. The Argentine striker hasn't spoken publicly about it, nor is he expected to, but through his inner circle, he fully endorses the statements by Xavi Hernández to The Vanguard Regarding his thwarted return in the summer of 2023, the former Barcelona coach blamed Joan Laporta, a candidate for re-election this Sunday, for having vetoed the last dance From Barça's all-time leading scorer: "Leo isn't coming because the president doesn't want him. It's not because of La Liga or because Jorge Messi asked for more money, that's a lie. It's the president who ends up saying no because he has all the power and Messi would mismanage that power." Messi approves of that version today and is happy that it came to light thanks to Xavi.

It took three years, but the one from Rosario explained why his son did not return and the decision to end his fitxant for Inter Miami, at the end of his seven-year professional career: "Tot i feel like saying that the League has accepted everything, and that everything was at a point because it turns out, there are things missing per fer. They're going explain that there are more players to come and I'm not going to go through that or take responsibility. I was already accused of many uncertain things in Barcelona and I didn't want to go through all this [...]. Messi, then, stated that the message they sent him was that the bosses would end up accepting his registration. that the Argentine preferred Going to MLS is better than returning to Barcelona.

But the flurry of statements doesn't end there. Because at the exact same time that Hansi Flick's Barça was preparing to play... the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 At Saint James' Park (1-1), Atlético de Madrid was about to face Tottenham (5-2) at the Metropolitano. Minutes before kickoff at both stadiums, Movistar interviewed Mateu Alemany, Atlético's current director of football. When questioned about Xavi's controversial remarks, the Mallorcan, who worked in Barcelona's offices in the summer of 2023, also agreed with the player from Vallès: "What Xavi says is true. They told us they had it." The pronoun used by Alemany in his comment refers to the internal promise that Laporta and his former brother-in-law, Alejandro Echevarría, a key figure in sporting planning, made regarding the salary cap in the context of the financial constraints that have plagued Barça throughout his tenure, and not to a green light from La Liga.

Tebas denies that there was approval from La Liga

This nuance is important to understand the recent words of the league president, Javier Tebas, who hasn't missed the opportunity to stir things up. "It's not true that La Liga authorized absolutely anything or gave any approval," the Aragonese executive has declared twice this week, first in response to Xavi's comments and then Alemán's. This version fits well with the events of almost three years ago, when Barça, far from the norm regarding the salary cap, struggled to register Gündogan, Iñigo Martínez, Cancelo, and João Félix before the transfer window closed. The first was registered thanks to the sales of Dembélé and Kessie, the Basque center-back had to wait for Eric García's last-minute move to Girona, and the Portuguese duo joined the squad thanks to a guarantee from the board.

Laporta now claims that it was Messi who decided to go play in Florida instead of returning to Barça. However, the archives show that his version of events has nuances, as in an interview with the newspaper Sport Shortly after the events in question, he explained that the League had authorized the registration of the Argentinian player. Even the club's website. This version was collected in the summer of 2023Tebas could deny those words of the former Barcelona president today to further tighten the noose around Xavi, Alemany, and Messi. But he won't, because in the game of interests surrounding football, the head of the league has gone from being a public enemy of Barcelona to becoming, thanks to the ever-useful Echevarría, a key ally of the Laporta faction.