Xavi Hernandez's interview with La Vanguardia caused a lot of reactions from La Liga fans and from La Liga personnel.
The former FC Barcelona player and manager revealed that Lionel Messi was very close to returning to FC Barcelona in 2023 following his departure from the club in 2021.
The Argentine star was interested in returning to the club after winning the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, according to Xavi.
Xavi also claimed that FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta stopped Messi from joining the club, despite La Liga allegedly giving the 'green light' for the club to proceed in signing the Argentine star.
La Liga President, Javier Tebas, has reacted to Xavi Hernandez's words about Messi's failed return move to Barcelona because of Laporta, and he denies that the league had allowed the club to proceed with the transfer.
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Javier Tebas on Xavi Hernandez's Lionel Messi Claim
Javier Tebas gave his thoughts on Xavi Hernandez, who suggested that La Liga allowed FC Barcelona to sign Lionel Messi in 2023.
The transfer did not happen because, according to Xavi, Joan Laporta wanted to avoid a 'wage war' within the squad.
In response to Xavi Hernandez's claims, Tebas said, "La Liga absolutely did not authorize anything for Messi’s return in 2023; it is not true."
In an interview with RTVE/ Teledeporte, Tebas said, "That is not true. First, we wanted to know how much Messi wanted to be paid so that we could include it within Barcelona's financial fair play rules, which was a complicated matter at that time. We also needed to know under what conditions he would come; the player, due to his extremely high market value, was very difficult to register."
