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By Martin Graham | 9th Mar 2023
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed to the media that he is meeting with Lionel Messi’s father and agent, Jorge Messi, to discuss the possible return of the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner to the Spotify Camp Nou.
Messi left the club unceremoniously in 2021 and has now settled into life at Paris Saint-Germain, where he moved for the next step of his career.
He won his record-extending seventh Ballon d’Or as a PSG player, even though the achievement was based on his time at Barcelona the season before, before going on to lead Argentina to their third ever FIFA World Cup title in Qatar, like the late great Diego Armando Maradona did all those years ago.
Those achievements have now seen him grab another FIFA The Best award for men’s player of 2022 and has seen his stock continue to rise in the football world, despite his advancing age.
However, it is being reported that the mercurial Argentine is not interested in continuing at the French club beyond the duration of the two-year contract he signed with them in 2021. The club has been trying to get him to commit but in the meantime, Barcelona have inserted themselves back in the picture as they look to bring their record goalscorer and best ever player back for one last dance before he leaves European football for good.
Many sources have claimed many things since the news first broke about Messi’s possible return to Barcelona. However, nothing has come out from the upper management of the club in that time.
The latest reports have now been confirmed by Laporta, who had stated in the past that he is more than open to a Messi return but is going to put the club and its finances first.
Laporta refrained from talking about Messi’s future when he gave his comments to the media, however.
“We met, yes. We talked about the situation, I congratulated him because Argentina won,” Laporta said. “He knows that we were happy that Messi won the World Cup. We talked about a tribute to Leo. As you can imagine he has an extraordinary affection for Barca.
“And don’t make me talk about Leo because he’s at PSG and I want to respect the club and the player.”
Messi is currently being courted by David Beckham’s Inter Miami of the MLS in America as well as Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr’s rivals in the Saudi Pro League.
Both Saudi clubs are willing to bring the Argentine to Saudi Arabia to recreate the Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry to make their league more profitable, as well as compete with Al-Nassr, who have gotten significantly stronger on and off the pitch with their acquisition of Ronaldo.
Should Messi leave PSG, however, it is unlikely he returns to Barcelona but it is a statement that cannot be made matter-of-factly thanks to the affection that the little Argentine has for the Catalan giants.
Martin Graham is an MFF sports writer
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