FC Barcelona responded to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami move with the saltiest statement

A classless way to treat a club legend.

From the onset, it was always clear that Lionel Messi wanted to return to Barcelona. He never wanted to leave. But FC Barcelona’s own financial mismanagement forced the soccer legend’s eventual move to Paris Saint-Germain and prevented a return in 2023.

Barcelona chose to ignore that context in its official reaction to the news that Messi would be joining Inter Miami in MLS this summer. Instead of honoring arguably the greatest player in the game’s history — and certainly the best player in FCB’s storied history — club president Joan Laporta seemingly took a shot at Messi’s decision.

There’s something about Miami and bringing out the saltiest of team statements.

The second paragraph of the press release read:

President Laporta understood and respected Messi’s decision to want to compete in a league with fewer demands, further away from the spotlight and the pressure he has been subject to in recent years.

There’s nothing quite like a team essentially throwing a tantrum about missing out on a player while also criticizing said player’s competitiveness. While nobody is going to argue that MLS is on the level of a top-5 European league, there’s no reason for Barcelona to take a swipe at MLS (and Messi) when the club never had a realistic chance of bringing him back due to its own dysfunction.

You can’t blame fans for ripping Barcelona about the classless statement.