Barcelona chief Joan Laporta has admitted he hopes Lionel Messi 's Camp Nou career isn't over, with the Argentine coming into the final year of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
Messi left Barcelona last summer and ended his 21-year association with the Spanish club to join Ligue 1 side PSG. In his debut campaign at the Parc des Princes - his first outside of Spain - Messi helped the side now managed by Christophe Galtier to win the league title.
However, with Messi only having 12 months left on the two-year deal he signed in the French capital, Laporta has said that he hopes Messi’s time with Barca, having scored 672 in 778 appearances, was not over.
“I believe, I hope and I wish that Messi’s chapter at Barcelona isn’t finished,” Laporta told ESPN. “I think it is our responsibility to ensure that this chapter is always open, and that it hasn’t been closed, and that it has a more splendid ending to the one he had.”
Laporta added: “Am I indebted to him? Morally, as the president of Barcelona, I think I did what I had to do. But also as Barcelona president and on a personal level, I think I’m indebted to him.”
During his debut campaign at PSG, Messi scored six goals and contributed 14 assists during his 26 league outings. That total saw him average a direct goal contribution every 107.7 minutes, despite his performances coming under fire.
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PSG recently changed managers after sacking Mauricio Pochettino earlier this month. His replacement is former Lille and Nice boss Galtier, who guided the latter to a shock Ligue 1 title win in the 2020/21 campaign, beating PSG to the trophy by a single point.
Prior to his success in recent seasons back in his native France, Galtier previously worked in England at League One side Portsmouth. While Alain Perrin was in charge of Pompey during a short spell in 2005, Galtier worked as his assistant during a disastrous spell that saw the Blues win just four times in 21 matches.
So far in pre-season, PSG have three wins from three games. They started their warm-up matches in France with a 2-0 win over Ligue 2 side Quveilly-Rouen, a game where Sergio Ramos and Djeidi Gassama both getting on the scoresheet.
PSG then travelled to Japan to play their final batch of friendlies of the summer. The first ended in a 2-1 win over Kawasaki Frontale, with Messi scoring the opening goal of that tie.
PSG then earned their third victory during pre-season, beating Urawa Red Dragons 3-0 on Saturday. Kylian Mbappe scored the second, with Pablo Sarabia and Arnaud Kalimuendo getting the first and last goals of that game respectively.
PSG will end their pre-season on Monday morning with a meeting against Gambo Osaka, before playing Nantes in the Trophee des Champions on Sunday, July 31.
