Lionel Messi is as soon as once more being linked with a return to Barcelona, this time on mortgage within the MLS shut season, however there are variety of causes as to why the Argentine will not be pulling on the blue and garnet of the Catalan giants in a aggressive setting.
Spanish outlet El Nacional is reporting that Messi might rejoin Barcelona on mortgage between December 2025 and February 2026, as soon as he has signed a brand new deal to increase his time at Inter Miami. His present MLS contract expires on the finish of this 12 months, although he is anticipated to stay for no less than one other season.
In a lot the identical approach David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahmovic all returned to Europe whereas primarily taking part in their soccer stateside, there’s the assumption that Messi might additionally look to do the identical with the membership he received each single trophy doable at.
Why Lionel Messi will not return to Barcelona
There are a variety of causes, nevertheless, why that’s such an unlikely switch later this 12 months.
The primary problem naturally pertains to Barcelona’s monetary points in the intervening time. Summer season signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor needed to wait for a considerable size of time earlier than being correctly registered by the Blaugrana, on account of their wages exceeding the membership’s wage cap imposed by La Liga, which relies on their revenues and different monetary standards.
Actually, that problem is the only real motive why Messi left Barcelona within the first place. He admitted that he by no means needed to depart the membership and be a part of PSG, however the uncertainty round his registration, attributable to his profitable wages, would have put Barcelona in deep trouble with the Spanish league. Spanish labour legal guidelines prevented him from decreasing his wages by greater than 50 per cent of his earlier wage, too, which nonetheless would not have assured his registration anyway.
So, if Messi have been to return to Barcelona on mortgage subsequent winter, there isn’t any assure they’d have the funds to afford his registration. Inter Miami would need the Blaugrana paying no less than some proportion of his £40-50m yearly wages, as revealed by Inter Miami managing proprietor Jorge Mas, which, even for a few months, may cost an excessive amount of.
Mas additionally stated in July 2023, after signing Messi, that he wouldn’t be despatched on mortgage to Barcelona, although he did recommend the Argentine might play in an exhibition match for them when Camp Nou reopens.
“He’s not going to go on mortgage there. That’s not going to occur,” Mas stated explicitly. “Sure, he deserves his right goodbye there. Sure, and I’ll do every thing in my energy to be able to facilitate and assist him do this as a result of he’s deserving of that.”
The report additionally means that occurring mortgage to Barcelona will assist preserve Mesi sharp for the 2026 World Cup, going down in USA, Canada and Mexico. In FourFourTwo‘s perception, the other would occur.
Spending even two months at Barcelona would imply that Messi, now 37, would play straight via from February 2025, when the brand new MLS season kicks off, till November 2026, when the marketing campaign after concludes, and not using a single break. In that interval he may also be competing within the 2025 Membership World Cup, that are additional video games the ageing magician must address earlier than instantly getting again into MLS motion.
Inter Miami may have wishes of profitable the MLS Cup, too – would they actually threat that by letting their star participant come again for the 2026 season drained and and not using a relaxation? When contemplating he’ll have led his nation out on the World Cup in 2026 as effectively, all of it simply appears too farfetched to recommend Messi will return in a aggressive capability to Barcelona.
