Barcelona president Joan Laporta was happy to speak about his relationship with Lionel Messi in an interview with RAC1 on Monday, admitting there's a before and after with the Argentine forward.
Laporta was excited at the idea of Messi being present for the inauguration of the new Camp Nou, even though it's a long way away, because it would be "beautiful."
However, he recognsied that "there's no personal contact, I remember him with affection and I hope he feels the same. It was not easy for me, I would have liked things to go differently, but as they happened, I thought of the institution first and I think we did what we had to do."
In that sense, he doesn't see any chance of Messi coming back as a player: "We're not considering it. We're building a new team with young players, but he deserves respect."
Laporta added: "I don't speak with him, I don't have fluid communication with him like before he left. We hear comments from people close to him... Barcelona pulls you a lot and when you leave you miss the city, Barça, he had a great life here. I felt worse for the personal and family side of things than the other, but also that."