Lionel Messi‘s return to Barcelona this summer is starting to look unlikely. The Argentine is out of a contract with PSG this summer, and hasn’t agreed to a renewal yet.
There was growing optimism surrounding a possible return to Barcelona. However, the Catalonian side were asked to trim €200 million from their wage bill, to cope with the same financial problems that caused him to leave in the first place. And as a result, the probability of Messi’s return is diminishing.
Lionel Messi increasingly less likely to return to Barcelona this summer
“If you ask me the question today, Messi’s return to Barça is very complicated,” La Liga president Javier Tebas said earlier about the player returning to the Spanish league.
“We have to see how that will evolve but several conditions would have to be met, Barça players would have to leave, there would have to be a reduction in wages. And then you have to know what salary Messi would have at Barça.
“Barça is not like PSG, which has a gas and money tap which allows it to have a large payroll. As we speak, it’s complicated for Messi to return to Barça.”
The league has set very strict financial limits for clubs, and wants them to be followed. No leeway is expected even though it would mean a great advantage for La Liga itself. And unless Barcelona can find a way to offload players to generate funds in big numbers, it seems like Lionel Messi’s fairytale return to Catalonia could be off the cards.
