Barcelona president Joan Laporta said Monday the club will "do everything possible" to bring Argentine superstar Lionel Messi back in the close season.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward is set to leave in the summer when his contract expires and new LaLiga champions Barca are hoping to lure their all-time top goalscorer back, despite strong interest from Saudi Arabia.
Messi has had two lackluster seasons in Paris after a glorious era at Barca where he won four Champions League and 10 LaLiga titles, and is still worshipped by the fans there.
Laporta said he has spoken with Messi to try and rebuild the relationship between them, which was damaged when he left in 2021.
Messi wanted to stay at Barca but the club could not afford to keep him because of debt of over one billion euros ($1.1bn).
"I have spoken to Leo to somehow redirect a situation that occurred, in which I had to put the club ahead of everything, even him, who is the best player in the world," Laporta told Catalan regional public television station TV3.
"The truth is that it was a very affectionate conversation, very pleasant, and we have also been sending each other messages lately - I congratulated him on the World Cup."
In the early hours of Monday morning after Barca won 4-2 at Espanyol to clinch LaLiga, Laporta said on Twitch that "we will do everything possible" to sign Messi.
However, speaking on TV3, he was more cautious.
"He is a PSG player and what we will do is improve the team in all areas, we have already worked on that," said Laporta.
"I think it would do me a disservice to talk about these questions about Leo, because he belongs to a team like PSG, and we have to wait until the end of the season, until it is over and then we can talk more calmly about this."
AFP reported last week that sources close to negotiations said it was a "done deal" that Messi would move to Saudi Arabia next season.
However, Laporta said despite the money on offer in the Middle East - a reported 400m dollars a year - Barca could compete for Messi's signature.
"With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and it is his home," added Laporta.
"We can compete with everyone. History backs us, the feelings are too strong, we have 400m fans around the world too."
Barca need to make over 200m euros in savings, or new income, to be able to operate without restrictions under LaLiga financial fair play rules.
