Barcelona presidential candidate Marc Ciria has used Joan Laporta’s fractured relationship with Lionel Messi to boost his campaign.
Ciria celebrated a poster of Messi holding up his Barca shirt with the words: “Can’t wait to see you again.”
The ploy is a nod to Laporta’s successful re-election in 2021 when he erected a giant poster of himself outside of Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium with the words: “Looking forward to seeing you again.”
That was a genius reference to Barcelona’s period of dominance in the Spanish rivalry under Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique.
Now Ciria is using Laporta’s own words against him to highlight his poor relationship with Messi.
Laporta was unable to re-sign Messi upon his return to the club in 2021 due to dire finances.
Messi bid a teary farewell as he left for PSG, and it’s widely been reported that Barca’s greatest-ever player has not forgiven Laporta for not doing more to keep him.
A recent example of their split was in November when Messi visited the Camp Nou while traveling with Argentina.
Rather than coming back on an official basis – which would be seen as a public boost for Laporta – Messi made the trip in the middle of the night.
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