Barcelona are head over heels to rectify their mistake of letting Lionel Messi leave last summer, as they are doing everything possible to bring back their legend to Camp Nou. Messi had bid farewell to his boyhood club in the summer of 2021, after his contract expired and Barca were unable to extend it, thanks to their poor financial situation. However, the Argentine didn’t have to do much to find a new club since many had already circled around him.
Messi ultimately chose PSG, where he linked up with his former teammate and close friend Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. After an underwhelming 21/22 season, where the ‘La Pulga’ only managed 11 goals and 15 assists in 34 games, he has started this season with a bang. The PSG no.30 has so far racked up 7 goals and 8 assists in just 12 games, as he warms up for the upcoming World Cup. With his current PSG deal set to expire next summer, the 35-year-old is heavily being tipped with a move back to Barcelona.
Laporta eyeing ‘free agent’ Lionel Messi in 2023
Barcelona have finally shrugged-off their poor financial record, by triggering a number economic levers. The club bulked up this summer as well in the transfer market, facilitating a string of solid signings which included the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde. However, the Catalans did some clever business too, signing a massive four free agents in Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso and Hector Bellerin.
The club has now confirmed that they are going to pursue more free agents, with Lionel Messi one of them for next summer. While Messi has the option to extend his current deal with the Parisian club till the summer of 2024, he is yet to trigger it. PSG too want to offer the seven-time Ballon d’Or a new contract, but he is slated to make a decision on it post the World Cup. Meanwhile, Barcelona too are doing everything possible to bring him back, as Laporta revealed he has set up a meeting with their all-time top scorer in Paris. In a interview with Mundo Deportivo, the Barca president said:
“On Monday, I will see Leo Messi in Paris. The club will honor him because he is the greatest player in history. I know that Barca means a lot to Messi. Sunday [16 October] will be the 18th anniversary of Messi’s first match [with Barcelona]. He is a PSG player [now] and I can’t talk now about Messi’s return. He is a PSG player and we would not do anyone any favors and we have to respect him. We are very aware of Leo’s recognition. There are many Catalans who continue to wear Leo’s shirt.”
Lionel Messi is known to have a good relationship with Laporta, since his first stint with the club as the president from 2003 to 2010, where the club won three Champions League titles. However, there was some bad blood between the two after Leo had to leave last summer. Nonetheless, both Laporta and Xavi who now heads the first-team are reportedly trying to fix their fractured relationship with the PSG superstar in order to bring him back next summer. Furthermore, Laporta talked about Sunday’s El Clasico and recruiting more players in winter market, as he continued:
“If there is a good result on Sunday [in El Clasico], it will help the project, but it will not falter and it will get better. That’s where we are. Once the club is saved financially and the squad has improved, we will improve the team. This team is making progress. Adjustments are still to be made that will make it even better. We are working for the winter market. We are in talks with the football management and the coaching staff, with the intention of constantly improving this team.”
Sunday will be a big test for Xavi as they are facing an early exit from the Champions League like last season. The Catalan club needs to win their remaining two games against Bayern Munich and Viktoria Plzen, and hope Inter don’t collect more than a point from theirs to qualify through for the knockouts. Xavi will certainly demand a positive result at the Santiago Bernabeu like the last season’s 4-0 thrashing to build on it.