Barcelona are growing increasingly pessimistic over the prospective signing of Lionel Messi.
The Argentine icon brought his Paris Saint-Germain career to an end this weekend, as the French champions celebrated their title, albeit with a 3-2 loss to Clermont.
It allows him to focus on fully on working out his future. It is said that Messi is keen to do so swiftly, in the coming week or two, something which is working against Barcelona. Inter Miami are believed to have made an offer, while Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia have presented Messi with a mammoth offer, but Sport, say they have also sent a delegation to Paris to secure his signature immediately.
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has said that it is 99% up to Messi where he goes, and President Joan Laporta has previously claimed they will do what they can to bring him back to the club that took a chance on him as a 13-year-old.
However the tone has changed in Catalonia, with Laporta now seeming increasingly pessimistic about the chances of making a deal happen. The Blaugrana are still waiting on La Liga approval of their viability plan in order to be able to make an offer for Messi. “We will see,” Laporta told Sport, as he enjoyed the celebrations of Barcelona Femeni’s second Champions League title. “It’s difficult. If you do everything you can, there’s no obligation to do more.”
Certainly it appears hope of a fairytale return his subsiding somewhat. Barcelona were never going to be able to bank on Messi returning for money, and he can earn more elsewhere. They must hope that the attraction of his old life, a fitting farewell, and one or two final years in European football make him hold off on a decision for some time.
