Barcelona presidential candidate unfurls huge Lionel Messi banner in city centre & uses slogan from previous Joan Laporta campaign

Barcelona's presidential candidates are busy campaigning ahead of the elections which will take place on March 15th. Laporta is the favourite for victory and will be hoping to continue for another term, but he faces competition from several opponents. Victor Font, who Laporta defeated last time around, is in the running again along with Ciria, Xavier Vilajoana, Daniel Juan, and William Maddock.

Ciria has caught the eye with his eye-catching banner that features a picture of Messi holding up his Barcelona shirt. The image is from Messi's famous celebration after scoring a stoppage-time winner against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2017.

Messi's name often features regularly in presidential campaigns as candidates seek to impress voters. It's no surprise to hear the Argentina star's name mentioned again this time around, with Ciria having previously insisted that club legend must be brought back to the club. 

After Messi made a secret visit to the renovated Camp Nou in December, Cirita told reporters: "We want our legends to be able to come back to the club and not have to do it in the middle of the night and hidden. We will do everything possible to achieve it. [Messi] is an indispensable figure for this club. He must come back with a solid support system and a good structure in place. The Messi-Barça relationship has to be like the Michael Jordan-Nike one. It must go above and beyond, from the commercial and institutional areas of the club to the sponsors and development of players at La Masia. With the best player in the club's history, we can do so many things and earn so much money. Bringing him home is essential if we want to emerge from the financial situation we are in. It's not about convincing him with a statue or a tribute game. It's about an agreement that makes the best sportsman on the planet Barça's biggest ambassador."

Font has also dropped Messi's name into the conversation in his campaign. He told Mundo Deportivo: "The first call I'll make when we win the elections will be to Leo Messi. It will be the first phone call I make."

Yet it's been a different story for Laporta, who has a strained relationship with Messi following his controversial exit from the club in 2021. Messi is said to be "very, very angry" with Laporta over his departure and the Barcelona chief has admitted the saga "has made him sad."

Messi is currently contracted to Inter Miami through to the end of the 2028 MLS season but has previously spoken of a desire to return to Barcelona. He told Sport: "I really want to go back there, we miss Barcelona a lot. My wife and I, the kids, are constantly talking about Barcelona and the idea of moving back. We have our house there, everything, so that's what we want. I'm really looking forward to going back to the stadium when it's finished because since I left for Paris, I haven't been back to Camp Nou, and then they moved to Montjuic."

It would be little surprise to see Messi take up a future role at Barcelona once his playing days are over, and he will no doubt be watching events at Camp Nou closely ahead of next month's big vote.

Barcelona's presidential candidates need 10,000 signatures to make it through the pre-candidacy process by March 2nd. The final candidates will be revealed after that date ahead of the elections on March 15th, the same day that Hansi Flick's side are due to take on Sevilla in La Liga.