Where will Lionel Messi end up next season?
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In December, it could be argued that Lionel Messi ‘completed football’. Already widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time, the Argentinian genius led his country a third FIFA World Cup triumph in Qatar.
With that achieved and ticked off, it seems as though the next few years and, sadly, the final few years of Messi’s career could simply be a branding and marketing exercise with little else to do by way of sporting glory.
… but is that going to be the case? This is a look at the likeliest destinations as to where Lionel Messi, who turns 36 in June, could spend the 2023/24 campaign…
BACK TO BARCA
There are strong suggestions, stemming from media reports in Catalonia, that Barcelona are making a way of bringing Lionel Messi back to Camp Nou.
The 35 year-old made 778 appearances and scored a staggering 672 goals with the Catalans after making his first-team debut for the Blaugrana all the way back in 2005. Whilst with Barca, Messi won ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey’s, seven Supercopa de España, four UEFA Champions Leagues, three UEFA Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups.
It would take an unlikely array of events for the financially struggling club to be able to afford the return of the ‘Little Flea’ but rumours persist.
OVER TO MLS
Just before the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar began, there were suggestions that a move to Major League Soccer was almost a formality in the summer of 2023.
The main club leading the way for Messi’s signature in the United States is believed to be Inter Miami. The Florida franchise, co-owned by David Beckham and currently managed by Phil Neville, have been linked with signing Messi since before they even came to fruition and Neville in particular has failed to entirely play down a possible move.
That said, despite Messi being 36 this summer and with apparent intentions to play on until the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the States, it still seems to early for him to depart major European football.
RETURNING TO ROSARIO
That reasoning for potentially not moving to MLS is also the concern behind any proposed and romantic return to Argentina with Newell’s Old Boys.
Messi departed Argentina for Barcelona and their youth academy, La Masia, with his father, Jorge, at the age 13, leaving behind the rest of his family. It means he never went on to play first-team football for anyone in Argentina and his boyhood club, Newell’s Old Boys.
Newell’s, currently coached by Messi’s former Argentina teammate Gabriel Heinze, finished 11th in the Argentine Primera Division in 2022.
STAYING AT PSG
Much like how Kylian Mbappe decided to extend his contract at PSG last summer, in dramatic and surprising circumstances, PSG will always hold out hope that Messi remains in the French capital beyond the 2022-23, which is his second campaign.
There is, pretty much almost every year after a disappointing UEFA Champions League exit, a lot of talk that PSG need to streamline and get smarter with their recruitment but with doubts over both manager and their Sporting Director Luis Campos, it appears the renewal of Leo Messi is not a crucial priority.
OR A SURPRISE?
According to Oddschecker at the time of writing, there are two other potential destinations for the seven-time, probably soon to be eight-time, Ballon d’Or winner.
‘Any Saudi Pro League team’ to potentially reunite with Cristiano Ronaldo in the Gulf state, and Manchester City, to potentially reunite with former Barca boss Pep Guardiola, are the other leading contenders.
