Lionel Messi is reportedly open to leaving Paris Saint-Germain as rumours of a possible Barcelona return continue to do the rounds.
According to reputed Spanish journalist Manu Sainz, Lionel Messi could leave Paris Saint-Germain after the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, and Barcelona are aware of the information. The Argentine international joined PSG last season on a two-year contract, which is set to expire next summer.
After 21 years with Barcelona, Lionel Messi joined PSG on a free transfer last summer after his emotional departure from Barcelona, sending the football world into a frenzy. But the Messi-PSG marriage has not gone to plan for both parties, with the club failing to win the elusive UEFA Champions League title.
The Argentina captain, on the other hand, struggled to get going in France, managing just six Ligue 1 goals in the 2021/22 season. This marked the first campaign since the 2005/06 season that Messi failed to score ten or more goals in a league term. His Champions League returns were decent though, with the former Barcelona forward scoring five times in Europe’s premier club competition.
With just a year remaining on his contract, talks of a possible return to Barcelona have been making the rounds. Barcelona manager and Messi’s former teammate at the Catalan club, Xavi Hernandez recently refused to rule out a possible return for the Argentine attacker, reiterating president Joan Laporta’s words that they hope ‘Messi’s story has not finished’ with the club.
Laporta had fuelled the rumour mill by recently claiming that ‘as president of Barcelona, and on a personal level, I think I owe him’. The recent reports have now given the club’s fans hopes that the Barcelona legend could return to Camp Nou in the foreseeable future.
As per Manu Sainz, Barcelona will try to convince Messi to return to Camp Nou after the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This could be the 35-year-old’s last chance to win football’s ultimate prize with his home country.
Messi took Argentina to the final of the FIFA World Cup back in 2014, only to lose to Germany in the final. It will be interesting to see if the veteran forward seals a dramatic return to Barcelona in the upcoming future.
