The Argentine Press are reporting that Lionel Messi will return to the Argentina fold once he has spoken to new boss Edgardo Bauza.
According to Ole, Bauza will travel to Barcelona next week to meet Messi, where he will convince the No 10 to go back on his initial retirement plans.
It is hoped that the 29-year-old will be available for Argentina’s next matches against Uruguay and Venezula in 2018 World Cup qualifying next month.
Speaking to TyC Sports on Wednesday, Bauza hinted his predecessor and ex-Barca Coach Tata Martino was to blame for Messi’s international retirement.
“If you’re just going to leave [Messi] on his own, you’ll see again what happened against Chile, when he had four players on top of him. He suffered a lot in that game and had trouble performing,” he remarked.
“The idea is that the game goes through him. We know the difference that Messi can make.
“He’s played in three positions: as a centre-forward, a little further back and on the right, where [Pep] Guardiola sometimes played him.
“The intention is to play him where he can make those differences, and for that we need the participation of his teammates. We can’t rely solely on Messi.
“I don’t know why people are saying I’ll have to convince him. I’ll talk football with him and then we’ll see if that discussion leads to the possibility of reversing the phrase he said after the final. Those who sometimes feel this frustration will understand what he said.”
