The tension between PSG fans and Messi has never been good, but lately, the tension has escalated to booing and planned protests against the Argentine. Messi’s contract is up at the end of the season, and talks have been held between the player and club representatives as they are yet to find an agreement for an extension. Before the World Cup, talks were progressing, but after the exit from the Champions League, fans turned against Messi.
Reports have been circulating that Barcelona might be interested in offering a contract to bring Messi back to Spain. In this blog, we are going to investigate the possibility of a reunion between Messi and Barcelona. Make sure to visit our LV BET Sports Blog for the latest information about transfers and other events. Visit our Twitter page, where we are posting Bet Builder bets before big games and live updates.
Situation at Barca
Currently, there are a lot of things going on at Barcelona. Financially, they have been struggling to get back on their feet, and they are still not in the clear. They still have players that are yet to be registered with the club despite them playing regularly for the team. In February, news broke out about an investigation into Barcelona paying the vice president of the referee committee to favour the Catalan club. These claims have been denied by the club and their representatives but should Messi want to return to Barcelona, things might not be as rosy as he might imagine.
Aleksander Ceferin, has described the alleged fraudulent activity by Barcelona as the worst case he has ever witnessed in football. Having a person such as Ceferin criticising how the club has been and is being managed could be a red flag for Lionel Messi and other players who are seeking a move to the Catalan club. UEFA might disqualify Barcelona from playing in the Champions League next season if it concludes that Barcelona paid off referees to gain an advantage.
Financially, it would be difficult to accommodate the salary expectation of Lionel Messi whilst keeping other players such as Frenkie de Jong, Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski on board. It’s a dream that every Barcelona fan would love to materialise but it’s not impossible, Messi is keen to return to Barcelona but he is wary of the political drama surrounding the club at the moment. At PSG, these political forces are well documented and contribute to many negative feelings within the camp, so would it be ideal for Messi to escape the political drama at PSG to enter another circus at Barcelona?
Problems at PSG
The general drawback of having many high-profile players, like Neymar, Mbappe, Ramos and others, who could be impossible to manage for any manager. We have dived into why managing PSG verges on the impossible in a separate blog, and if you are interested, you can read more on the topic here.
The usual trend for PSG is starting off the season by running riot and scoring for fun; once spring comes around, they get knocked out of the Champions League, and they are awarded the Ligue 1 or the Coupe de France as a consolation prize for their efforts. This time around, spring came early; they were knocked out by Marseille in the Coupe de France Round of 16 and at the same stage in the Champions League against Bayern Munich. In a recent game, Messi was again booed just before taking a corner and it’s fair to say that the Parisians do not value Messi like in Barca.
The drop-off in form after the FIFA World Cup is evident for the whole squad, with many journalists reporting that the relationship between the front three is sour. You would come to expect it in a way, Messi won the World Cup after knocking Kylian Mbappe’s France out in the final and Neymar once again a disappointing World Cup with Brazil.
Other Clubs
Clubs all around the world would love to land the signature of Lionel Messi, with some teams eager to splash the cash just to gain commercial revenue through ticket and shirt sales. Similar to when Cristiano Ronaldo wanted away from Manchester United, Al-Nassr saw it as an opportunity to get him to play in the Saudi League, gain popularity and fuel a better team for the future. Some of the clubs that are reported to have an interest in signing Messi are
Newell’s Old Boys – which is the boyhood club where Lionel Messi started his career before moving to Barca. The club is located in Rosario, which is the place where Messi grew up in, but it has since become renowned as the most dangerous city in Argentina owing to rampant violence. A supermarket shooting might have derailed that move even further. Messi has hinted that he would love to return to Argentina, and now since he won the Copa America and FIFA World Cup, his status as a legend is well-cemented alongside Diego Armando Maradona. He will be welcomed as a legend and a country hero.
MLS – It is reported that each club in the MLS would pay Messi’s wages, and then they let the Argentine decide which team he actually plays for. This is a bid to make the league more profitable in terms of commercial revenue and tv rights. The likelihood of this happening is quite low, but stranger things have happened in the world of football.
SAUDI – Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal has put down an astonishing €400m per year contract in front of Messi. This would be monumental for Saudi Arabia, having both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing in the Saudi League. Messi has won it all in terms of trophies, so he is well capable of going everywhere as he has nothing to prove to anyone. We will have to wait and see what happens.