FC Barcelona are studying methods to bring back Lionel Messi to Camp Nou – either as a player or as an ambassador – once his stint with Paris Saint-Germain is over.
A teary-eyed Messi bid farewell to Barcelona, his club for 21 years, in a press conference midway through the 2021 summer transfer window. Deep in financial distress, the Catalans had to reluctantly part ways with the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, whom they allowed to leave for free for French giants PSG.
However, accepting that the club still owes the Argentinian a proper farewell, president Joan Laporta recently promised to bring him back to Camp Nou in the future.
“I think it’s our responsibility to try to…find a moment to fix that chapter, which is still open and hasn’t closed, so it turns out like it should have and have a more beautiful ending,”
“As president of Barca, I did what I had to do. But also as president of Barca, and on a personal level, I think I owe him.”
he said.
As per Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are now actively studying the possibility of re-signing the Argentine, either as a player when his contract with PSG expires or, should that not be possible, as a club ambassador.
If there is room on the books to contain Messi’s mammoth salary, Barcelona will try to sign the attacker when his contract with PSG expires in the summer of 2023 – or 2024, if the Parisians decide to trigger an optional year in the deal.
To facilitate the transfer, Messi will have to take a salary reduction and accept a smaller role in Xavi Hernandez’s new-look side. If that is not possible, the club will try to bring Messi in an ambassadorial role once he decides to hang up his boots.
Now 35, Messi has started the 2022/23 campaign in sensational form. The attacker has scored six times in 11 games, four in eight in the league, including the only goal in a narrow win over Lyon just before the international break.
