The ‘Bring Back Lionel Messi’ campaign is gaining momentum by the day, with media, fans, and even Barcelona’s manager all hoping for the homecoming of their greatest son. However, the club’s decision-makers, especially president Joan Laporta, know that there are many hurdles to overcome before this can become a reality. Messi still has an offer on the table from Paris St-Germain, but with doubts about their future plans, hopes are growing at the Nou Camp that his return could be on the cards.
Barcelona need to reduce their wage bill of 600 million euros by 200 million before they can make a formal offer to Messi. This financial restructuring will involve more wage cuts, players being sold, and others arriving on free transfers. There is even talk of terminating some players’ contracts. The club will also have to present a viability plan to La Liga. Furthermore, the club’s enforced move to the former Olympic Stadium at Montjuic until November 2024 at the earliest will result in a loss of 55 million euros in ticket sales.
In order to bring Messi back, Barcelona will need to apologize to him on behalf of everyone who orchestrated his departure. This should be a formality for Laporta, but getting Messi to accept it and trust the power-brokers again will be considerably more difficult. The club will also need to negotiate the details of the contract, especially surrounding the long-term project in place at the club. La Liga has told the club that they cannot activate any more financial levers, so selling parts of the club to raise money is not an option.
Barcelona are so obsessed with Messi’s return because it could bring back some of the prestige to the club that many believe it has lost in recent times. La Liga President Javier Tebas is caught between a rock and a hard place in how he handles the situation, as he knows that every other club in Spain will be watching to make sure he and Barcelona follow the rules to the letter.
Messi is keen on a return to his former home, and Barcelona manager Xavi has told him that he would play either as an offensive midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation or at the top of the diamond in a 4-4-2. However, Messi may still have some mistrust towards some key directors at the club who let him go two summers ago. He also has many other options on the table, including an offer of 400 million euros from Saudi Arabia to play in the same league as Cristiano Ronaldo, and less financially attractive options from Major League Soccer (MLS).
If Barcelona can find a way, Messi will return. They have sold this idea to the media who are in turn selling it to the public non-stop. However, when his people ask the club “what are you offering?”, the answer at the moment is “nothing just yet”.