Messi to Barcelona ‘almost ruled out’ as his father pushes for Saudi Arabia switch – report

In a major development, La Porteria (h/t Beteve) claims Barcelona’s pursuit of Lionel Messi has been almost ‘ruled out’.

The Spanish news outlet comes up with this big claim this afternoon, suggesting that Messi’s father, Jorge Messi, is not too keen on a return to Camp Nou. He is more drawn to a move to Saudi Arabia, who are ready to offer millions.

Messi, for his part, is keen on returning to Barcelona after spending two years at Paris Saint-Germain. But he does not want to go against the will of his father, who has become an important negotiator in recent months.

While Messi’s departure from Parc des Princes seems almost fixed, there is no guarantee he would return to Barcelona. Jorge Messi does not trust the people in charge of Barça right now and believes a return to Camp Nou might not bode well for the player.

This is why he is more drawn to a move to Saudi Arabia, with Al-Hilal reportedly offering Messi a staggering €400 million a year earlier this year.

The report from La Porteria also comes against the backdrop of La Liga taking more time to approve Barcelona’s Financial Feasibility Plan, which was sent to the authorities last month.

With no approval of plans, Barça are having a hard time figuring out their economic limitations. As such, they are unable to approach Messi with an official proposal.

The Argentine has been quite patient as of now. But it appears that patience is wearing off for his father and we may soon see the veteran attacker make the move to the Middle East. He is already the tourism ambassador of Saudi Arabia and had recently made a trip to the country, which got him into trouble with PSG.

However, the project to re-sign Messi is still on the cards for Barcelona and it will be interesting to see if the Catalans can prevent their former star from embarking on a journey elsewhere this summer.