Jordi Alba weighed in on the conversations around organising a tribute for Lionel Messi.
Former Barcelona defender Jordi Alba had discouraged the idea of renaming the Camp Nou after Lionel Messi, stating that the Argentine would not fancy such a gesture.
Tribute talk for Messi
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has publicly committed the club to honour Lionel Messi with a major tribute when the Camp Nou rebuild is completed.
Laporta has mentioned plans for a statue and a formal homage at the renovated Spotify Camp Nou, while also stressing that a large-scale ceremony can only happen once the stadium’s phased reopening and licensing are complete.
Messi’s abrupt exit, forced by the club’s inability to register a new contract under LALIGA’s financial rules, left him without the public farewell a legend of his stature deserves; hence, with conversations of a tribute floating around, there have been different suggestions as to what a befitting tribute looks like.
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One such suggestion was that the new Camp Nou should be renamed after Lionel Messi. This would not be an unusual gesture, as the club named the women’s team stadium after Johan Cruyff, and stadiums in Spain such as Santiago Bernabeu, Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, and Benito Villamarin bear the names of important figures in the history of the respective clubs.
Alba disagrees
Not everyone associated with the club thinks that tribute should mean renaming the stadium, however. Long-time teammate Jordi Alba, who was one of the Barcelona ex-players who joined Messi in Inter Miami, has publicly said he doubts Messi would want the Camp Nou renamed after him, arguing the stadium’s historic name is “fine” as it is.
“I don’t get asked those questions here… I don’t know, I don’t know if Messi would like that . I think Camp Nou is fine,” he said, per Sport.