Laporta calls Messi-Barça bond a “shared success story” and hints at warmer ties

Joan Laporta sent Lionel Messi a message of congratulations after the Argentine received the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports. The FC Barcelona president described the player’s journey with the club as a shared success, while suggesting the honour could open a new chapter in a relationship that has remained strained in recent years.

“Leo, congratulations on receiving the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, a deserved recognition of your footballing and personal achievements,” Laporta wrote. He then highlighted Messi’s place in the club’s story: “Thanks to your talent, you helped make FC Barcelona, the club of your life, greater yesterday, today and always.” Laporta posted his message in Catalan on X. Kooora reports that the award makes Messi the first footballer to receive it individually.

The president closed by emphasising the bond between player and club: “Messi and Barcelona, Barcelona and Messi, a shared story of success that all FC Barcelona supporters are proud of and that we hope will continue for a long time.” The words express a wish for that connection to endure, but do not in themselves confirm any concrete reconciliation between Messi and Laporta.

The president’s message came a few hours after an official statement from the club, also published in Catalan. It praised Messi’s talent, commitment and solidarity, as well as the mark he had made on and off the pitch. The statement also described FC Barcelona as an essential part of his life and career, adding that the club would always be proud that he remained part of it.

In an interview with Teledeporte, Laporta also set out what he believes made the relationship between Messi and Barcelona possible. “La Masia, our way of understanding football and the trust FC Barcelona placed in Messi were decisive factors in his career,” he said. He described the meeting of a unique player and a club whose footballing identity suited his talent as “an ideal symbiosis”.

The remarks carry particular weight because relations between Laporta and Messi have remained tense since the Argentine left in the summer of 2021. The award prompted gestures of recognition from both the president and the club. That leaves room for the possibility of a new chapter, without establishing that a reconciliation is under way.