Barcelona president still hopes to re-sign Messi, too soon to make a formal offer

Despite several media outlets suggesting that Barcelona’s chances of re-signing former captain Lionel Messi are diminishing, club president Joan Laporta continues to be hopeful of completing the operation this summer.

This report comes from Helena Condis of COPE, who is claiming that Barcelona continue to be in constant negotiations with La Liga to find ways to make the Argentina captain’s return to the club viable.

Messi’s future has become a topic of major discussion as he gets closer and closer to free agency, with his PSG contract expiring on June 30.

A dream return to Barcelona had been gaining weight, but recent reports have suggested that the club might not have enough Fair Play margin to make the operation happen.

The Blaugrana have already sent in their economic viability plan to La Liga and must now execute it successfully if they wish to clear up their wage bill and generate income simultaneously. However, some of the players’ reluctance to leave could become a hurdle.

Nonetheless, the report from Helena Condis states that Laporta and Barça are looking into sales of players such as Raphinha, who is attracting strong interest from England, and could fetch a significant sum of money.

With the Fair Play situation not at all clear at this point, it is too early for Barcelona to make a formal contract offer to Messi. But, Laporta remains hopeful of completing the operation, although much work needs to be done for it to come to fruition.

As things stand, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has a mammoth €400 million per year contract offer from Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, while there is strong interest from Inter Miami in the USA.

But, Messi is understood to be prioritising staying in Europe for at least one more season. So, it is now up to Barcelona to sort out their FFP issues and make their move to bring the club legend back for one last dance.