Will Barcelona be able to retain Lionel Messi?
No story is more important in world soccer right now. Where will Barcelona superstar and potential GOAT Lionel Messi going to sign now that his Barcelona contract will expire.
With the clock ticking, potentially the best player ever could be leaving his long time home. Barcelona is the team he has built his illustrious career with, but questions regarding the team’s long term bad form and what moves a financially strapped Camp Nou can make are leading many to wonder where Messi will land.
With this being the second year that Messi’s contract has been headline news, it has also been reported that Lionel Messi made a mind blowing $674 million from Barcelona over the last 4 years. It’s reasonable to question if the organization can continue to afford such a mass sum for one player in it’s current financial circumstances.
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Barcelona is favored to resign Lionel Messi
A player of Messi’s historical caliber could possibly go anywhere. But while Messi is likely receiving a plethora of offers from clubs all over the globe, current reports are confident Messi will resign and finish his career where it started.
Barcelona’s newest Team President campaigned specifically that it was his main goal to resign Messi, which ultimately was the reason he won the job. The latest from the rumor mill is that both Barcelona and Messi’s agents have been discussing the potential of a two-year deal. Additionally there is a rumored caveat to the deal that would allow Messi to finalize his career with Inter Miami in the MLS after this new two-year contract is finished.
Will Manchester City, PSG or any other clubs get into the Messi free agency mix?
At the moment, there are a handful of clubs that are working and are being considered as potential landing spots for Messi. Since last year, Manchester City were reported to be willing to pay tremendous sums to make a huge splash in free agency. Not often are players of Messi’s caliber not just as a player but a name brand available on the open market. While Manchester City has the money, and was relatively recently interested, the club has won the Premier League and made a Champions League final without the Argentine superstar. Due to their success since missing out on Messi last year it is entirely possible that Man City have moved on from a significant move.
Paris St. Germaine however, have been vocal in their desire to bring Messi on the roster. Neymar Jr, and Messi have a history together from their Barcelona days, and both have discussed a desire to play together one day. While PSG have spent tremendous amounts of money on free agency over the last few years, and still face a difficult task of trying to convince Kylian Mbappe to stay, it is still very possible that they could make a shock move for Messi at the last minute.
