Barcelona have their feel-good factor back after two tricky years. The apex of that period was the slightly bizarre farewell of Lionel Messi, an exit that nobody wanted nor saw coming. Yet perhaps the clearest signal that Barcelona could send to say that they are indeed ‘back’, would be giving the great Argentine the end he never had.
While on tour in the United States of America, President Joan Laporta revealed to the media that bringing Messi back to Catalonia was an aspiration of his.
Naturally, Xavi Hernandez was asked the same question, given he is the one who would have to fit Messi into his plans.
“I would like it if Messi’s time at Barca had not ended. I think that he deserves a second opportunity. Let’s hope so.”
“If the question is, would I like him to return? The answer is yes,” he told Sport.
Xavi did however state that there was no chance of him leaving Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
“It’s an idea for the future that the club has, but not for this season.”
His contract with PSG expires in 2023, making a return not without the realms of possibility. Yet for possibly the first time since the mid-2000s, Barcelona can say that they do not strictly need Messi on a footballing level. Bringing him back might be the right thing to do, but as Cristiano Ronaldo has shown, not all returns are glorious.
