Barcelona are now confident of their financial capacity to bring Lionel Messi (35) back to the Camp Nou, according to a report from RMC Sport. The Argentine will be out of contract next June. The two-year contract that Messi signed when he first arrived in 2021 included a clause for an optional third season, which all of the higher-ups at the club have now agreed not to trigger.
The 2022 World Cup winner is in the eye of the storm at PSG. The Argentine travelled to Saudi Arabia on Monday while his PSG teammates were training at the Camp des Loges, the league leaders’ training ground. The trip, which was part of Messi’s contractual obligations as an ambassador for Saudi Arabia, was not sanctioned by manager Christophe Galtier, nor by Sporting Advisor Luís Campos.
Les Parisiens have taken the stunning decision on Tuesday evening to suspend Messi for two weeks with immediate effect. He is banned from entering the club’s training facilities and will be docked pay during that period.
The 7-time Ballon d’Or winner will therefore miss two games through suspension. It remains to be seen whether Messi has already played his last game with Les Parisiens last Sunday against Lorient. On Monday morning at Camp des Loges, the club’s training ground, Messi was openly criticised for the first time since the start of the season by PSG’s key players. Reportedly, they lamented the timing of the unauthorised trip, which came the day after a limp 3-1 home defeat against Les Merlus.
RMC Sport report that Messi also wants out of PSG, and that his entourage have been “quietly” in discussions with Barcelona for several weeks now. The Blaugrana are even said to be confident of their chances of bringing back their all-time top scorer to the Camp Nou.
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
