Barcelona are exhausting all avenues to bring Lionel Messi back to the club, but it looks increasingly likely that he will be playing his football outside of Europe next season.
The Blaugrana are one of three options reportedly on the table for Messi, one being Inter Miami in Major League Soccer and another heading to Saudi Arabia, where Al Hilal are thought to be best-placed for his signature. Messi is a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain.
Father and agent Jorge Messi met with Barcelona President Joan Laporta on Monday, but it is Inter Miami who feel that their chances are increasing.
According to Sebastian Quadrelli, as backed up by Veronica Brunati, Messi is keen to decide his future this week in order to put an end to the topic as quickly as possible. For Barcelona, they must still make sales in order to be able to present Messi with an offer.
Acerca del Futuro de Messi:
🗣️ Su entorno: Leo está lejos del Barcelona. No hay garantías. No quieren volver a pasar lo mismo que en su salida. Se mal interpretó lo que declaró Jorge Messi a la salida de la casa de Laporta. Los tiempos de Leo, no son los del Barça. pic.twitter.com/S53nbkIicA
— Sebastián Quadrelli (@SebaQuadrelli) June 6, 2023
Meanwhile Inter Miami have everything ready in order to present an offer to Messi, and are banking on the fact that he and his family might prefer the lifestyle there to in Saudi Arabia – the family already have a house in Florida.
🗣️Inter de Miami: Tienen todo listo para presentarlo a Leo. Confían que puedan recibir su OK esta semana. Incluso, tienen apalabrado a un gran artista argentino con reconocimiento internacional.
🗣️ Arabia Saudi: Reconocen que, por varios factores, han perdido terreno.
— Sebastián Quadrelli (@SebaQuadrelli) June 6, 2023
As per Quadrelli, Saudi Arabia are aware of the fact that they have lost ground in the race for his signature, in spite of the mammoth figures they are able to offer Messi.
Todo lo que publica @SebaQuadrelli es real: en las últimas horas Inter Miami avanzó en la propuesta a Lionel #Messi está más cerca de cerrar su contratación. En Miami son muy optimistas. https://t.co/HTnoqxEfM8
— Veronica Brunati (@verobrunati) June 6, 2023
Brunati vouches for Quadrelli’s information, claiming that in recent hours, Inter Miami have presented an offer Messi.
Some have remarked that the apparent haste to tie up a deal may be a method of applying pressure to Barcelona in order to force through a deal more quickly. However there does seem to be a consensus on the fact that even if Messi does want to head to Barcelona, sales are a must for the Blaugrana – something currently there is no sign of at Camp Nou.
🚨 In the last few hours, Inter Miami have made significant progress in the proposal to Lionel Messi. They are closer to finalising his signing. In Miami, they're very optimistic. @verobrunati
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 6, 2023
