Barcelona want to bring Lionel Messi back from Paris Saint-Germain, with the Argentine out of contract this summer, but in recent days talks between the two parties have cooled.
PSG coach Christophe Galtier announced that he would be leaving the club on Thursday, ahead of their final game of the season. Meanwhile Barcelona have declared a desire have him in Catalonia once more, but are waiting on La Liga to approve their viability plan, which will allow them to make signings again, and thus offer Messi a deal.
It is thought that Messi is keen to tie up a new deal due to the offer he has from Saudi Arabia, one of two other interested parties with Inter Miami. That offer is said to expire within 15 days, thus explaining Messi’s haste to sort out his future.
According to Marca, the Blaugrana remain confident of securing his signature all the same. Diario AS back that line, saying the optimistic version is that Messi will hold out from pressure within his own camp to avoid going back to Barcelona, while others are pessimistic, seeing the deal as less close than it was just a few weeks prior.
El FCB NO contempla que la luz verde de LaLiga al plan de viabilidad llegue la pró. semana.
Las presiones que está recibiendo Messi ha hecho que el argentino, por ahora, haya decidido CONGELAR su decisión.
En el FCB consideraban hecho el regreso de Leo. Ahora, está en el aire
— Toni Juanmartí (@tjuanmarti) June 1, 2023
Toni Juanmarti reports along a similar line that Messi has decided to ‘freeze’ his decision, delaying whichever course of action was on his mind. He also reports that Barcelona do not expect approval of their viability plan to arrive next week.
If there is an expiry on the offer from Saudi Arabia, that would certainly make life more difficult for Barcelona, as one of two exit routes he has from Europe.
The feeling amongst many, as vocalised by Diario AS, is that Jorge Messi, his father and agent, is advising him against rejoining Barcelona. After the Blaugrana backed out of a deal at the last minute two summers ago, he is understandably wary of doing business with Joan Laporta once more.
Equally, if Messi does move to Saudi Arabia or Major League Soccer, it will likely mean saying farewell to top level club football forever, something which hadn’t been contemplated just a few months previously.
