If Elected, Barcelona Presidential Candidates Will Immediately Call Messi To Involve In The Club

Lionel Messi is the first person Victor Font will call when he is elected President of Barcelona (Instagram/@leomessi).

JAKARTA - Barcelona's presidential candidate, Victor Font, said on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, local time that Lionel Messi would be the first person he contacted if he won the election next year.

The Catalan giant will hold a presidential election in 2026. The Spanish businessman is again considered the main competitor to challenge current Barcelona president, Joan Laporta.

Font, 53, lost to Laporta in the election in 2021.

"The first call I will make when we win the election is to Leo Messi. This will be my first phone call," Font told El Mundo Deportivo.

Messi spent most of his career at Barcelona before rushing to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 due to the Catalan club's financial problems.

The Inter Miami star made a surprise visit to Camp Nou last week while serving internationally with Argentina in Spain and said he hoped one day he could return (to Barcelona).

The Argentina captain, whose relationship with Laporta cooled after his departure, also admitted in a recent interview that he did not leave Barcelona as he dreamed.

While Laporta has confirmed that Messi's return to playing at Barcelona is unrealistic, Font doesn't rule out the possibility.

"Personally, as a Barcelona fan, I have goosebumps, but obviously this depends on it. What we shouldn't have done was try to take advantage of it."

"I think Laporta has done it. He has done it many times. I think he is wrong, the most obvious example is during the election," he said.

Laporta said ahead of Barcelona's 2021 presidential election that he believed Messi would leave Barcelona if he did not win the election.

You see, Laporta said it would guarantee that the club's all-time top scorer would survive. However, the promise was broken.

"That is another example of a broken promise. I'm sure Messi shouldn't be used, but he needs to know that the first thing I would do if I won the election was to call him."

"We need to embrace Leo Messi and do everything we can to ensure that, as soon as possible, he gets a role at Barcelona."

"As he said last week, he wants a role and will make all Barcelona fans happy."

"Our job is to talk to everyone who can contribute to the future. It is important for us to understand their intentions. However, what I say is also important, we need to know that they are the club's assets," Font said.

Meanwhile, Laporta recently said that he plans to set up a statue of Messi at Camp Nou as part of the respect he wants to give to the legendary player.

However, Font considered that having the statue of Messi as a tribute was deemed insufficient.