It was an idea that had been around for months in the Barcelona environment, but this Monday Jorge Messi confirmed it: Leo Messi wants to return to Barça next season. The meeting between the player’s father and the club’s president, Joan Laporta, has shown the will of the striker from Rosario, who despite having on the table the dizzying economic offer from Saudi Arabia and the also tempting one from Inter Miami has preferred to give one last chance to the club of his life before stamping his signature on a contract. The feasibility plan presented by Barça to LaLiga, whose approval seems close, seems decisive for the future of a Messi who puts the sentimental and sporting factor before the financial one.
Messi has lived in Paris for the last two years, but as soon as he has been able, whenever PSG has given him days off, he has been seen regularly by Barcelona. His meetings with Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba in a restaurant in the Catalan capital or his most recent presence at the Coldplay concert in Montjuïc are just a few examples of his desire to return to reside in his house in Castelldefels, where he has built his family. with his partner, Antonela Roccuzzo.
Messi arrived in Catalonia at the age of 13 and his bond with the country reached another dimension with the birth in Catalan lands of his three children (Thiago, Mateo and Ciro). “After being away for a few years, we are going to return. I promised my children that way,” said ‘la pulga’, through tears, during his bitter goodbye from Barça on August 8, 2021. The word given to his children, who consider Barcelona their home, it can also be a determining factor in the future decision of the footballer. Saudi Arabia and Miami promise him more money, but they cannot offer him the comfort and good memories that Barcelona brings to the Messi family.
Beyond family reasons, for Messi Barça is also his sports home, the club where he began as a child and where he ended up becoming the best player in history. His return to the Barcelona entity would give him the opportunity to say goodbye to the culé fans, something that he could not do when in 2021 he closed his stage of more than two decades at the club. A brief statement, totally unexpected when his renewal seemed close, and a tearful press conference were the sad end of Messi.
His last game at the Camp Nou, against Celta on May 16, 2021, took place under full restrictions due to the covid pandemic, with the Barcelona Coliseum completely empty and without the feeling that it was the last Blaugrana game of ‘the flea’. If he puts on the Barça elastic again, Messi would play the first year at the Estadi OlÃmpic LluÃs Companys, but in November 2024 he could play again at the new Camp Nou, whose remodeling would be another incentive for the return of the Argentine. The culé fans have made clear in recent games their predilection for Messi, whose name has been chanted in the 10th minute in honor of his number.
The good memories of Barcelona have been accentuated even more by the bad experience in Paris. The Messi family lived in a hotel during the first months of their stay in France. Once they moved to a luxurious house in the Neully-Sur-Seine neighborhood, other coexistence problems became apparent, such as the lack of ties to the city and few social stimuli.
This little warmth was added to the controversial performance of PSG and especially of Messi, criticized by his own fans, especially from the second season on. The elimination of the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich in the round of 16 in March caused PSG fans to dedicate whistles to Rosario on a recurring basis, the last time in the team’s farewell against Clermont this past Sunday. Given the climate of tension, Messi prematurely abandoned the celebration on the lawn of the Parque de los PrÃncipes for the Ligue 1 title.
The little connection in his Parisian adventure has put a Messi on alert who will assess in even more detail where he will move his family in his next and probably final stage as a footballer. In this sense, Barcelona offers no doubts.
Although Barça and Barcelona have enough incentives for Messi, the Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernández, is being one of the main supporters for the possible return of the man from Rosario, who welcomes putting himself under the coach’s orders, a situation that he would assume as the penultimate challenge of his long and successful career.
The man from Egar, who shared a dressing room with the Argentine during the club’s most successful era, has spoken on several occasions with his former teammate to explain what his role would be in the team. Without the references in the squad of the last decade, after the departure of Piqué, Busquets and Jordi Alba, Messi would go on to lead a young project with good dynamics that already has a Super Cup and a League to its credit.
In addition, and unlike Saudi Arabia and the American MLS, he would continue to compete at the highest level, something essential to arrive with the best feelings for the Copa América in July 2024. Revalidating the continental title would be the finishing touch to his trajectory with Argentina once they achieved the long-awaited World Cup last December in Qatar.
