The attacker from Paris Saint-Germain is expected to depart when his deal ends in the upcoming season, and Barcelona, the current La Liga champion, is aiming to entice its all-time leading scorer back despite an intense fascination from Saudi Arabia.
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is expected to return to Barcelona during the offseason, according to the president of the club Joan Laporta, who stated on Monday that the team will "do everything possible" in order to lure him back. After a spectacular period at Barcelona, where he won four Champions League and ten La Liga titles and is still revered by the supporters there, Messi has had two underwhelming seasons in Paris.
“I have spoken to Leo to somehow redirect a situation that occurred, in which I had to put the club ahead of everything, even him, who is the best player in the world,” Laporta told Catalan regional public television station TV3.
“The truth is that it was a very affectionate conversation, very pleasant, and we have also been sending each other messages lately -- I congratulated him on the World Cup.”
"He is a Paris Saint-Germain player and what we will do is improve the team in all areas, we have already worked on that,” said Laporta.
“I think it would do me a disservice to talk about these questions about Leo, because he belongs to a team like Paris Saint-Germain, and we have to wait until the end of the season, until it is over and then we can talk more calmly about this.”
"With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and it is his home,” added Laporta.
“We can compete with everyone. History backs us, the feelings are too strong, we have 400 million fans around the world too.”
