The return of Leo Messi to what was his home for 20 years is an increasingly tangible possibility. The illusion is palpable at the Camp Nou, the scene in which the president Joan Laporta outlined in the last meeting of the board of directors that the possibility of Messi returning exists and that for days the Blaugrana machine has been launched in search of economic and sports formulas to be able to fit the Argentine star in the event that he does not renew with PSG. The Parisian club continues to rethink a new sports project in which only Mbappé is untouchable.
They know it at Barcelona where, despite the complexity of the operation, they are increasingly optimistic. “We are in contact with Messi, I would love him to come back. Beautiful stories can end well. Messi is in love with the club and with Barcelona and we with him. Fate makes you return to where you should beâ€, the first vice president Rafa Yuste, the second on board the Blaugrana ship, slipped yesterday. “Well, let’s listen to fate if it is so wise. I wish he would come back, I would be the first to be happy â€, replied the coach Xavi Hernández.
Not everything depends on the signs. Also the facts. For this reason, in the midst of the sea of ​​proposals and plans that go from option A to Z, the sports management is already contemplating a scenario of a Barça playing with Messi. Xavi, the Argentine, is convinced to play in a position of fourth midfielder. He also believes that these two years in Paris have made a more conscious and mature Messi evolve, capable of fitting in with a more familiar Barcelona and where all the players are a close match. “I am in love with Leo and that he does not misunderstand himself. I have seen him grow. I know him well as a person and for me he is exemplary. People are excited. It would be a Last Dance like Michael Jordan’sâ€, said Xavi.
Financially, sources from the Blaugrana club point out that you have to be patient and wait for all the pieces to fit together. But just like Xavi with his sports board, they are already looking for a way to seduce Messi financially. The most convincing formula is to offer him an economic amount according to the delicate situation of the club. In exchange, they would study paying him a high percentage of the income that reaches the club’s coffers for possible sponsorships attracted by his return. “I think that what will prevail is Leo’s willingness to come. He knows that we would be delightedâ€, slipped Xavi.
The Argentine footballer is in permanent contact with Xavi and with former teammates. Sources close to the footballer continue to assure La Vanguardia that everything is up in the air. They also confirm that no new offensives have arrived from PSG, who already tempted him with a lower offer than the current one, and stress that the player is clear that he wants to compete at the highest level to play in the 2024 Copa América. Europe is the ideal setting for achieve it. In Messi’s decision, the will of her wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, who wants to return to Barcelona with her three children, also prevails.
In the bobbin lace there is another bone that will be difficult to gnaw. He is Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga who has already warned that Barcelona must reduce its salary mass by 200 million to fit into the financial fair play. The football director Mateu Alemany has been working for days on an economic feasibility plan to be able to reduce the 200 million salary bill that the employers require, register Gavi and Araújo, renew Balde and, why not, fit the Argentine. “We are preparing it to present our accounts and we will see what happens with Messi,” said Yuste.
To reduce the aforementioned salary mass, the Barcelona plan must have possible sales. Asked about the future of Barcelona’s current ten, Ansu Fati, Vice President Rafa Yuste was very ambiguous. Despite his wishes that Fati, a footballer trained in La Masia, continue at Barcelona, ​​the vice president pointed out that “I do not guarantee anything 100 percent because it does not depend on me. We are in a club with a lot of people and they give us their message and their vision. Yes, I can say that Xavi has Ansu Fati. He is a player trained in the house, an example. But the lineups are made by the coach, â€he added. “It would make no one happier than me if Ansu Fati succeeds at Barcelona. I have spoken with him and the most important thing is that he is well, calm and focused, â€Xavi replied.
The coach described the words of Bori Fati, Ansu’s father, showing his disagreement with his son’s participation as “something normal that has happened all his life” although he stressed that “what matters to me is Ansu. And he is fine. He has competition but he will be important in the remaining games, â€said Xavi.
