Messi is still, to this day, a PSG footballer. This will be until, at the latest, next June 30. Unless from Qatar they achieve a renewal that seemed done at the end of 2022, but that has stalled dangerously for the interests of Parisians. The ’10’ of Argentina has not said yes And it is precisely his position that continues to fuel all kinds of speculation about his future.
Obviously, the world champion will not lack offers to continue playing, but Leo, at this moment, is in the observation phase because he has not made a firm decision on what to do from next season. One of those options, of course, is Barça, although it is a possibility that, to this day, is still very distant and difficult to carry out. For it to become a reality, three things must happen:
Say “yes, I do”
A year after the burofax and after the return of Joan Laporta to the presidency, everything was agreed for the Argentine to sign what should be his last contract with Barça to end his career as a footballer at the highest level dressed as a blaugrana and in the Camp Nou. The club, at the last minute, backed down and Messi had to find his life and went to PSG. Now, and after winning the World Cup, he once again has on the table the possibility of resuming the path he left halfway.
It will not be easy because there is a lack of precision on the part of all parties. Especially by Barça, who is the one who must take the step to recover the best footballer in the history of the entity. For now, much ado about nothing. But also Leo must make a decision about it, even before the club moves. He has offers from half the world: from the MLS to Saudi Arabia, passing, obviously, through the renewal with PSG.
He has not yet given the definitive yes, although emotionally he does not exist, and he believes so, a better option than to return home. In this sense, the family plays an important role because both his wife and his children are looking forward to living in Barcelona again. Despite this, the last word belongs to the player, who is the one who manages his career. Leo speaks regularly with Xavi and the coach is also an important piece in this whole puzzle. The ’10’ already knows that you have the doors open and that, how could it be otherwise, fits perfectly into the coach’s plans.
These are two tricks that can end up tipping the balance in favor of Barça. Without Xavi and without the will of his family to return to Barcelona, the option for Messi to return to the Camp Nou would be non-viable.
Meeting between Laporta and Messi
Too many things happened and none of them was pleasant for Joan Laporta and the Argentine during the hours in which Barça decided that they could not sign the renewal of the player. Something very deep broke between the president and Leo, whose previous relationship was very closeas it shows that, for the first time since he arrived at Barça, Messi went to a presidential election to give his vote to Laporta.
The ’10’ felt betrayed and his father, Jorge Messi, had a heated discussion with the top leader. Re-sewing that destruction is not easy at all. It was seen, for example, at the gala of the past ‘The Best’. It was a great opportunity for both of them to start rebuilding, with a simple gesture, the building, but they only saw each other from afar.
Those who know both parties, understand that the only way to end such tension is to arrange a face-to-face meeting, in which both parties, who have reproaches to make to the, in this case, the opposite, can talk about everything with the aim of burying the hatchet. The distance is deep, but, according to people close to them, they are both adults and capable of understanding each other again if the goal is common and the beneficiary is Barça.
Fit the operation in the financial Fair Play
It appears here as the third essential condition for Leo Messi to return to Barça, although, in this case, the order of the factors does not alter the product either. And it is that the economic fit of this operation is the key, surely, of everything. Xavi loves him, Leo contemplates returning home as an attractive option and recovering a cordial relationship with Joan Laporta would be a matter of time, but all this depends on whether the signing fits him.
for now, Barça needs to reduce its salary mass by 200 million. If Mateu Alemany doesn’t get it, not only Messi, but any other incorporation would be practically unfeasible. To do this, it will be necessary to achieve million-dollar sales and salary reductions, even although the ’10’ accepts that his file will never be able to be at the level of the one he had dressed as a blaugrana.
There is talk of imaginative formulas such as offering him a percentage of the benefits that are achieved with his return at a commercial level or, even, from sponsors, but everything happens because LaLiga gives the go-ahead to his economic inclusion in the first team of Barça. The problems that the club is having to register Gavi, update Araujo’s file and renew Balde do not allow us to be optimistic, but there is still time and a lot of work to do. It escapes no one that reuniting the ‘Barça’ brand with the ‘Leo Messi’ brand would be one of the great news in the history of football.
