Barcelona presidential candidate Marc Ciria has said he will do all he can to bring Lionel Messi back to the club if he prevails in next year’s elections.
Current president Joan Laporta’s mandate is up in 2026 and Ciria officially announced this week he will run against him when elections are held at some point between March and June.
Despite leaving the club in 2021, Messi, who recently led current club Inter Miami to their first MLS Cup, is likely to, indirectly, play a big part in the campaign over the coming months.
“We want our legends to be able to come back to the club and not have to do it in the middle of the night and hidden,” Ciria said at an event to launch his candidacy on Tuesday, a nod to Messi’s unexpected appearance at Spotify Camp Nou last month.
“We will do everything possible to achieve it. [Messi] is an indispensable figure for this club. He must come back with a solid support system and a good structure in place.
“The Messi-Barça relationship has to be like the Michael Jordan-Nike one. It must go above and beyond, from the commercial and institutional areas of the club to the sponsors and development of players at La Masia.
“With the best player in the club’s history, we can do so many things and earn so much money. Bringing him home is essential if we want to emerge from the financial situation we are in.”
Messi, 38, recently signed a new contract in Miami to extend his stay with the MLS side until the end of the 2028 season, making his return to Barça, where he is the record scorer and appearance holder, unlikely.
However, there remains a desire to bring him back in whatever capacity given his significance to Barça.
Another presidential candidate Victor Font, who finished second to Laporta in 2021, said recently his “first call” if he wins the elections will be to Messi.
Meanwhile, Laporta’s relationship with Messi was strained by the Argentina international’s departure in 2021 when Barça could not afford to finalise a contract renewal they had agreed with him.
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In an attempt to heal those scars, Laporta recently said he plans to erect a statue of Messi at Camp Nou as part of a tribute he wants to give to the legendary player, who never got a proper send off becayse he left during the pandemic.
“It’s not about convincing him with a statue or a tribute game,” Ciria added. “It’s about an agreement that makes the best sportsman on the planet Barça’s biggest ambassador.”
Messi’s appearance at Camp Nou in the middle of the night in November came with a message on social media in which he expressed his desire to one day return to Barça-
“I hope that one day I can return, and not just to say goodbye as a player, as I never got to do…” he posted on Instagram.