Lionel Messi is set to return to the Camp Nou, but this time not to play a match for Barcelona. The Catalan club's president, Joan Laporta, has confirmed that Barca will hold a special ceremony to honour the Argentine legend once work on the stadium is complete.
Laporta made the announcement during Barcelona's General Assembly, after a question from a club member about when the ceremony for Messi would take place. The Blaugrana president said that the club had previously expressed its desire to honor him at a completed Camp Nou.
"We told Messi that we would like to pay him a tribute with the completed stadium. There was a possibility that he could have played another season with us, but it didn't happen because he made a different decision. We would be happy to pay him a tribute," Laporta declared.
Further, the head of Barcelona confirmed that the ceremony will take place after the stadium is completed and left open the possibility that it will be a grand event, with the presence of a very large number of fans.
"We will pay tribute to him when the stadium is finished, always if he wants. I hope to see him soon. We can pay tribute with around 105,000 spectators," said Laporta.
According to the planning mentioned by the club's president, the works on "Spotify Camp Nou" are expected to be completed in the summer of 2028. Meanwhile, Barcelona has already entered the final phase of the stadium reconstruction project.
Laporta's statement also brings to mind the possibility of Messi returning to Barcelona. The club president admitted that there was a possibility that the Argentine would play another season at the Camp Nou, but according to him, this did not happen because Messi made another decision.
The Argentine left Barcelona in the summer of 2021, after the end of his contract, at a time when the club could not finalize a renewal due to the financial situation and La Liga regulations. Five years later, Barça intends to give him the opportunity to return to the house where he wrote most of his history, this time for a tribute ceremony in front of the Catalan fans.
The honor also takes on special significance given that Messi left in 2021 without having the chance to greet Barcelona fans on the pitch. The club is now planning to hold this missed farewell at a fully completed Camp Nou.
