“Laporta trying hard to portray himself as the good guy” - Fans slam Barcelona’s ‘passive aggressive’ statement after Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami move

Barcelona's statement following Lionel Messi's move to Major League Soccer (MLS) side Inter Miami has attracted a lot of flak from fans. The Argentine has joined Miami on a free from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Barcelona were reportedly actively trying to re-sign Messi this summer. However, their pursuit didn't come to fruition and the player eventually chose to leave European football for the MLS.

Barcelona released a statement soon after Messi's move to Inter Miami was made official, claiming they had made a formal offer to the player's entourage but they chose against accepting it.

The statement added that club president Joan Laporta understands the player's decision, who wants to "compete in a league with fewer demands." But that didn't go down well with some fans, who believe it was a "passive-aggressive" statement for a club legend, who spent the majority of his career with them.

Here are some fan reactions to Barcelona's statement:

"Laporta is trying so hard to portray himself as the good guy here," one fan wrote on Twitter.

Lionel Messi explains why he didn't join Barcelona

Lionel Messi, during an interaction with Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, explained why he chose against joining Barcelona this summer. He conceded that after years of playing in Europe, he wanted to spend some time out of the spotlight.

He said:

“Although I heard that La Liga had accepted everything and that everything was fine for me to come back, there were still many other things that needed to happen. I heard that Barcelona had to sell players or reduce players’ salaries, and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that or take responsibility for something related to all of that.

"I have already been accused of many things that were not true in my career at Barcelona, and I was already a bit tired; I didn’t want to go through all of that. Although I would have loved to, it couldn’t be done.”

He added that having a young family also played a part in his decision, saying:

“I’m at a point where I want to step out of the spotlight a bit, think more about my family. I had two years where I was so unhappy on a personal level that I didn’t enjoy it. I had that month that was spectacular for me because of winning the World Cup, but apart from that, it was a difficult period for me.

"I want to rediscover joy, enjoy my family, my children, the day-to-day… And that’s why the decision for Barcelona didn’t happen.”

Messi scored 32 goals and provided 35 assists in 75 matches for PSG across competitions during his two-year stint with the club.