Overnight, there has been a lot of chatter surrounding the future of Lionel Messi and a possible return to FC Barcelona in the summer.
News broke that Messi’s father and agent, Jorge, had met with Barça president Joan Laporta recently to discuss a potential comeback along with other matters such as a tribute for the record Ballon d’Or winner and the recent comments made by his brother, Matias.
Soon after that, more news started flowing in with regard to Messi and his future.
Gerard Romero, who has been reporting that the Argentine captain is not in favour of renewing with PSG, claimed that talks are already underway over a potential deal for Messi.
He further stated that there were two parts to these negotiations – one involving the player and Barcelona manager Xavi and the other between Jorge Messi and Laporta.
Romero also reported that Messi and Xavi are in regular contact and even met over dinner before the World Cup in Qatar towards the end of last year.
Building on the matter, he also went on to make a huge claim regarding the futures of two current Barcelona stars.
As per Romero, club captains Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba would stay at Barcelona in case Messi returns in the summer.
Furthermore, he also added that the two veterans would be willing to take a drastic pay cut in order to make the move happen and welcome the Argentine back to the club.
Busquets’ contract with Barcelona expires at the end of the season and the player is yet to decide on his next move, amidst interest from the USA and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Alba’s future is also uncertain even though he has a year left on his deal, as the Blaugrana need to make major cuts to their wage bill before next season.
However, Romero does state that the taxes could be an important issue with regard to Messi’s return and the club would need to handle that.
Victor Navarro of COPE also reported that Barcelona president Laporta did have a meeting with Jorge Messi last week, while also stating that the relationship between the two parties had now become positive.
But, Veronica Brunati, who is known to be close to Messi’s camp, provided an update on the situation, stating that while a meeting had taken place, there were no negotiations at this point and the relationship is also ‘frozen’.
With conflicting reports emerging on the matter, it remains to be seen how the situation unfolds in the coming weeks.
