Messi return imminent as Barcelona and LaLiga discuss deal

Messi completed football when he won the World Cup

Messi return imminent as Barcelona and LaLiga discuss deal

Ayoola Kelechi 16:34 - 27.04.2023

Messi's return to Barcelona is gaining steam after the club's representatives met with LaLiga officials to find common ground on financial issues

Barcelona have taken further steps to ensure the return of Blaugrana legend Lionel Messi after they reportedly met with LaLiga to iron out details of a possible deal that would allow the Argentine to rejoin the Catalans despite their financial troubles. 

Messi nears Barcelona return 

Messi’s return to Barcelona is fast becoming a reality after several hints about a possible move back to Spain hit social media in the last months of the season, including former teammate Luis Suarez posting on his Instagram account a picture of Messi and a caption suggesting that he would be going back to Barcelona.

Luis Suarez teases Messi's return on Instagram
Luis Suarez teases Messi's return on Instagram

Messi’s contract with his current club Paris Saint-Germain expires at the end of the current season, and even though there is a clause in his contract that allows for an extra year if both parties allow it, the Argentine forward appears set to decline the extra season and return to Barcelona where he started his professional career and played 17 years for the senior team, winning numerous team and individual accolades. 

Barcelona and LaLiga looking for solutions for Messi 

With both Messi and Barcelona favouring a reunion, the only thing standing between them is the club’s current shaky financial situation and LaLiga’s financial fair play rules, so the Catalans have reportedly sat down with officials from LaLiga to find ways that they can make the deal for Messi work. 

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.co.ke/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Barcelona’s Director of Football Mateu Alemany and Treasurer Ferran Olive met with LaLiga’s Corporate General Director Javier Gomez and General Executive Director Oscar Mayo in Madrid over lunch to discuss the club’s standing with the league. 

Although the result of these talks will not be known for several weeks as the summer transfer window only starts in July, there is hope among Barcelona fans that LaLiga would allow Messi return to the club when his current deal with PSG ends. 

Related content