Almost five years after the departure of Lionel Messi, the president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, once again referred to one of the most sensitive moments in his management and defended the decision not to renew the Argentine captain's contract
in 2021.The leader, recently re-elected and with a term of office until 2030, argued that the club's economic context forced a drastic measure to be taken that marked the beginning of a new phase: “I had to make a decision and I think I was right, I refer to the results. We were able to recover the club's economy, we made a competitive team and it was time for generational replacement.
”Laporta explained that, beyond the intention of retaining Rosario, financial restrictions made him unfeasible: “Leo was at the end of his career and a new team needed to be built. Would I have liked to make a new team with Leo helping? Yes That was tried but it couldn't be.”
