Last month it emerged that Barca have paid Negreira and a company he owns a reported total of 8.4m euros (£7.4m) between 2001 and 2018.

A Barcelona court heard on Friday, March 10 that Barca, former club officials and Negreira had been indicted for “corruption”, “breach of trust” and “false business records”.

These lawsuits, brought by the Barcelona public prosecutor’s office, is aimed at the club, as well as former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell.

La Liga chief executive Javier Tebas said in February that current president Joan Laporta should resign if he was unable to explain the payments.

Laporta responded by saying he will not give Tebas “what he’d like by stepping down” and the charges come three days after Laporta insisted his club had “never bought referees”.

“Let it be clear Barca have never bought referees and Barca have never had the intention of buying referees, absolutely never,” he said on Tuesday.

Messi left the Camp Nou for Paris Saint-Germain last summer, after 17 years in the Barcelona first team, as the Catalan giants struggled with financial problems.

But Laporta is hopeful that the 35-year-old will be able to return to Barca before he hangs up his boots.

“Messi’s time at Barca didn’t end as we all would’ve liked,” he told Spanish press during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.

“I believe that Barca have a moral debt towards Leo Messi. We would like the end of his career to come in a Barca shirt, being applauded at all the grounds, wherever he goes.”

Laporta clarified that “nothing has been discussed” with Messi, who has one season left on his PSG contract with an option for an extra year.

“It was a temporary end (to his Barca career) because I believe that we will make this wish a reality,” he added.

Messi scored only 11 goals in all competitions in his debut PSG campaign, the first time he had scored fewer than 30 in a season since 2007-08.

The Argentine superstar spent 21 years with the Catalan side, winning every trophy and shattering numerous records before he was forced to leave last summer due to the club’s dismal financial situation.

Messi reportedly did not want to leave his beloved club and cried at his farewell press conference before joining French giants Paris Saint-Germain.

But Barcelona president Joan Laporta has now hinted that the magician may end up back at the Camp Nou before he calls time on his illustrious career.

Laporta, who resumed his post as Barcelona president earlier this year after Josep Bartomeu’s arrest,  hinted that the door is open for both Messi and legendary midfielder Andres Iniesta to return to Catalonia.

He said: “I don’t rule anything out. It happened with Dani [Alves], age is a number. They’re two great players. I can’t predict what will happen tomorrow, they’re still playing & contracted to other clubs. You never know…”

His comments follow the arrival of iconic full-back Dani Alves, who returned to the club this week after six years, re-joining former teammate and new manager, Xavi Hernandez.

About 10,000 adoring Barcelona fans were at the Nou Camp on Monday afternoon, November 8, where the Spanish legend vowed to restore the club to its former glory.

‘I don’t want to get too emotional,’ he told them. ‘So I can just tell you one thing – we are the best club in the world. And we will work with the highest standards to have success. We cannot accept defeats or draws, we have to win every game.’

‘We are going to work to try and win many titles, thank you very much, this is an emotional moment for me.

‘We need you. Especially during the bad moments. We are in a difficult situation as a club. We need you more than ever.’

Xavi then proceeded to sign a contract while his family and friends watched on a few metres away.

He then posed for pictures while holding up a Barcelona shirt with his name on the back.

The manager has joined on a two-and-a-half-year deal after he paid half of the £4.3million release clause to his former side Al Sadd.

The Catalan giants sacked Ronald Koeman of his duties in October, and interim manager Sergi Barjuan has overseen a draw with Alaves with a narrow Champions League win over Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday.

Xavi will be in charge of what should be his last game as coach of Al Saad on Wednesday. He would then arrive in Barcelona on Thursday but the club could leave interim coach Sergi Barjuan in charge for the match away at Celta Vigo on Saturday, giving Xavi two weeks to prepare what would be his first game at home to Espanyol on November 18, according to Sportmail.

Speculation has already started as to who Xavi will want the club to bring in although president Laporta has already made it clear there will be very little the club can do in January.

Xavi has won 62 of his 90 games in charge of Al-Sadd and previously made 767 appearances for Barcelona during a glittering 17-year spell in the first team.

Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid are the only founding members of the breakaway competition that have so far refused to abandon the project.

UEFA threatened the clubs with legal action and planned to suspend them from this year’s Champions League, but it was announced in May that legal proceedings would be delayed after a Madrid court accused the governing body of acting “outside the rule of law”.

The UEFA Appeals Body has now announced that the case against the three clubs will be dropped.

A statement from the governing body read: “Following the stay of proceedings against FC Barcelona, Juventus FC and Real Madrid CF, in the matter related to a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework in connection with the so-called ‘Super League’, the UEFA Appeals Body has declared today the proceedings null and void as if the proceedings had never been opened.”

The European Superleague was a controversial plot to form a new competition that would challenge the Champions League for supremacy in European football. It was announced in April.

Nine other clubs which include Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Inter announced that they would also join the Super League as founding members. But the plan quickly fell apart amid protests from fans as UEFA and the national football associations across Europe spoke out against the idea.

The Premier League teams, Atletico, Milan and Inter all announced they would be pulling out of the plan within days of the initial announcement. The clubs that pulled out agreed to pay a total of £22 million ($31m) to UEFA but now the governing body has also cancelled the fines.

The former Bayern Munich CEO stated this as he praised his former club over the way Bayern thrashed Barca 3-0 at the Nou Camp in their opening group game of the 2021/22 UEFA Champion League match.

He said Barca look different without Messi, a player who has been a key figure for the club in the last two decades.

He told German publication Bild. “Bayern played outstandingly well and deserved to win. It’s too early to talk about favourites. [The competition] only really starts with the knockout phase. If you look at the team, the way they [Barca] performed tactically. Without Messi, their souls have been ripped out. They are facing difficult times.  It was imperative to sell him. The Spanish league has scored an own goal with him.”

This comes days after Barcelona confirmed last Thursday that Messi would not sign a new contract with the Spanish club amid financial concerns “and structural obstacles” which prevented Messi from renewing.

After Messi confirmed his exit from the club, PSG offered Messi an initial two-year deal, thought to be worth £25m a year after tax, and the six-time Ballon d’Or winner and his representatives are now reviewing and considering it carefully.

Now lawyers at the Spanish club have filed a complaint to the European Court of Appeals, stating the Parisians should be stopped in their pursuit of Messi based on financial data.

Juan Branco confirmed the complaint on Twitter: ‘On behalf of FC Barcelona partners, my firm has prepared a complaint with the European Commission and demands for provisional suspension before civil and administrative courts in France to prevent Paris-Saint Germain from signing Lionel Messi. PSG’s ratios in terms of ‘Financial Fair Play’ are worse than those of FC Barcelona. In 2019-2020, PSG’s salary-to-income ratio was 99%, while Barcelona’s was 54%. Meanwhile, the difference has increased. It is inconceivable that the ‘Financial Fair Play’ serves to aggravate the drifts of football-business, the instrumentalization of football by sovereign powers, and the distortion of competitions.’

The report claims PSG will fall foul of FFP with the signing of Messi, and reveals that Barcelona couldn’t renew the star’s contract because even after a 50 per cent pay cut, the club’s wage bill would be 110 per cent of the cap, according to Marca.

It also reportedly pointed at the Ligue 1 side’s active summer this year, with Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi, and Georginio Wijnaldum all arriving at the Parc de Princes.

They already have the massive wages of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar to shoulder.

Messi confirmed in an emotional press conference that he will be leaving Barcelona this summer after a lifetime at the club, and is now finalising terms with PSG.

Barcelona announced the six-time Ballon d’Or winner will not be staying at the club ‘because of financial and structural obstacles’.  The 34-year-old has been a free agent since July 1 when his contract expired at the Nou Camp.

According to Betfair, PSG is the odds-on favourites to sign him at 10/11, with Manchester City second-favourites at 21/10.

City boss Pep Guardiola has made no secret of his desire to be reunited with his former Barcelona team-mate but with the £100m rival of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa and their interest in £150m Harry Kane, could see Messi join PSG instead.

Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said “The big transfer news just keeps on coming and all eyes are back on the future of Lionel Messi following the confirmation that he won’t be signing a new deal with Barcelona. Reports last summer suggested that Manchester City were very close to signing him, and they are currently second-favourites at 21/10 to secure the services of the six-time Ballon d’Or winner. However, it is French side PSG who are the odds-on favourites to sign him at 10/11, while Manchester United are outsiders at 18/1”

Messi made 778 appearances for Barcelona, scoring 672 goals which have helped to secure 10 league titles, four Champions Leagues and three Club World Cups among his haul of 35 trophies.