FC Barcelona is already working on plans to honor club legend Lionel Messi with a statue in front of the renovated Camp Nou. This was announced by President Joan Laporta.
A statue of Lionel Messi has stood in Buenos Aires, the capital of his native Argentina, since the summer of 2016. Since 2023, unveiled shortly after his triumph at the World Cup in Qatar, another has stood in the museum of the South American Football Confederation CONMEBOL in Paraguay. And soon one in front of Camp Nou?
At least that is what FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta has now promised the 38-year-old. Just a few days ago, Messi visited his old home, which is currently still under renovation, and Laporta subsequently mentioned that he wanted to give the club legend “the most beautiful honor in the world.”
Laporta explained exactly what this might look like a few days later at a book presentation in Barcelona. “Messi will always be connected to Barca. He knows that the doors are always open for him,” emphasized the 63-year-old.
Laporta continued: “He should get a statue in front of Camp Nou, just like Johan Cruyff and Laszlo Kubala.” The Catalan president described Messi as an “icon” of the club “who has left his mark here.” The Argentine joined Barcelona’s legendary youth academy, La Masia, in 2000 and ultimately played 678 competitive games and scored 602 goals for the 28-time Spanish champions before his departure in the summer of 2021.
Laporta on Messi statue: “We’re working on it”
Barca is already planning to honor this impressive career. “We have already discussed it in a meeting and are working on it,” Laporta said. “His family still has to agree—but all Barca fans would want it.”
Messi is currently playing for Inter Miami, for whom he has been playing since the summer of 2023, in the MLS playoffs for the title in the US. Starting on November 23, they will face FC Cincinnati in the second round. Messi finished the regular season with 29 goals in 28 appearances. Not only did he secure the top scorer title, but with an additional 19 assists, he was also the MLS’s top scorer.
