After a meeting with Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Lionel Messi’s father and agent Jorge Messi said his son was keen on a Barcelona return.
“Leo wants to return to Barcelona, and I’d love to see him back,” Jorge told journalist Toni Juanmartí.
“Barca move is an option for sure,” he added.
PSG announced this past weekend that Messi will not stay at the club for another season, and the player was reportedly mulling lucrative offers from Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia and Inter Miami in the United States.
Barcelona theoretically was also an option, being the club where he grew up and thrived for nearly two decades before leaving to join PSG in 2021 amid the Catalan club’s financial struggles.
Barcelona theoretically was also an option for Messi, being the club where he grew up and thrived for nearly two decades before leaving to join PSG in 2021 | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Barcelona’s finances are in better shape now, but adding Messi to the squad would make it more difficult for the club to meet the Spanish league’s strict financial fair play rules.
“It’s not easy, but we’ll see,” Barcelona president Joan Laporta said this weekend.
The club was working with the league to make sure it could get an adequate salary cap approved ahead of the new season. It still has to add some players who were registered with the youth squads, including playmaker Gavi, but it gained some important salary cap space with the departure of veterans such as Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
“I would really like to have Leo back. He knows it, I’ve spoken to him,” Barcelona coach Xavi said. “It would be spectacular, not only for me as a coach but as a fan as well. He is a spectacular player who could help us in so many different areas. But it’s his decision, and I will understand it no matter what happens.”
Laporta has said the club would do everything possible to try to bring Messi back.
(with inputs from AP)
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