{"id":15767,"date":"2023-04-07T17:10:38","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T17:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season"},"modified":"2023-04-07T17:47:55","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T17:47:55","slug":"where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season","title":{"rendered":"Where will Messi be playing next season?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. <\/strong><\/span>Everything is a possibility\u201d with regards to where Lionel Messi will be playing next season, says Spanish football expert Guillem Balague.<\/p>\n

Balague says the Argentina captain has received offers from Saudi Arabia and the USA\u2019s Major League Soccer, while there is interest in bringing him back to Barcelona, albeit no official offer has been made yet.<\/p>\n

Messi had reached an \u201cagreement in principle\u201d to renew his contract at Paris St-Germain for another year, with his priority to continue in elite European football until the 2024 Copa America.<\/p>\n

After two seasons in Paris, the club, which is owned by Qatar Sports Investment, would like to convince him to accept that extra year under the same conditions as he has now.<\/p>\n

According to Balague, the 35-year-old still needs to be the convinced the Ligue 1 side can remain competitive at the top of European football, as director of football Luis Campos has been asked to reduce the wage list to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMessi said he would stay put for that extra year as long as – because it has to be accepted by both sides \u2014 there is a sporting competitive team put together,\u201d said Balague.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message that Messi got was that PSG will keep the same financial conditions, which is not a problem, but that they had to reduce the wage list which makes the team less competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also not clear if the manager (Christophe Galtier) will be replaced and who will come in. In Qatar, the talk is that the team line-up will vary by four to five players, which makes next season a bit of uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of clubs from around the world are stepping up their own attempts to convince the 2022 World Cup winner to sign for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pressure from the club\u2019s Qatar owners is massive. They don\u2019t understand why there is a delay and would be willing to put even more money on the table. But I insist, that\u2019s not an issue,\u201d said Balague.<\/p>\n

PSG lead Ligue 1 by six points but their 11th consecutive attempt at winning the Champions League ended in a last-16 3-0 aggregate defeat by Bayern Munich last month.<\/p>\n

Could Messi really return to Barca?<\/b><\/p>\n

Messi, who left Barcelona for financial reasons in 2021, was met by whistles from a small section of PSG fans before they fell to a seventh defeat of 2023 at home to Lyon on Sunday.<\/p>\n

That followed the news last week that Barcelona were in contact with Messi about returning to the club, and after stories started appearing in French media about his future that placed the Argentine in a negative light.<\/p>\n

Jorge Messi, Lionel\u2019s father and agent, had a 25-minute meeting with Barca president Joan Laporta in a Barcelona hotel. It was the first time they had met since the day Laporta confirmed in Messi\u2019s office that the player was not going to continue at the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main theme of the hotel conversation was not the future of Leo but how can Barcelona give him an homage,\u201d said Balague. \u201cLeo and Laporta have not spoken but obviously Barcelona keep pushing the idea that yes, they are going to go for it. The main engine is manager Xavi who speaks very regularly to Messi and quite clearly paints him a picture of a team that needs his quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cXavi tells Messi he will be used as one of the two midfielders in front of the holding one, very close to what he does with Argentina. Xavi has thought of different ways for that to work and every time Leo hears about this, his eyes light up.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then he hears stuff from the club like \u2018we\u2019re definitely talking to them and this is going to happen\u2019 from directors who suggest that this is almost a goer and I imagine his reaction is quite negative because there has been no offer at all. It\u2019s just talk coming from Barcelona.\u201d<\/p>\n

Messi agreed a new deal with Barcelona on reduced wages two years ago, but the club changed their mind unexpectedly at the last minute. Now, with a similar financial situation, the thinking is that having Messi in the team will bring money in to keep bringing big players.<\/p>\n

That Laporta decision in 2021 ended Messi\u2019s storied spell at the club which yielded four Champions Leagues and 10 La Liga titles – plus six Ballons d\u2019Or. The club have continued to struggle with their finances since.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is it possible that Barcelona, who are in a similar situation to what they were when Messi left, think they can afford Messi?\u201d said Balague. \u201cAnd why don\u2019t they start negotiations? Nobody has approached Jorge or Leo to tell them how to put all that together with a financial package. Barcelona still need to reduce their wage list by 200m euros.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy intuition is that if they did, they would be at a disadvantage enticing Messi with the possibility of coming back. Every week that passes without an offer is one less million that they will probably offer. If the only offer that Messi has got to stay in the elite game is PSG, and he is not fully convinced because of their sporting situation, Barcelona can come in a month\u2019s time and say \u2018we cannot afford to pay what you deserve but we can actually offer you this, which won\u2019t be a lot\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 400m euro move to Saudi?<\/b><\/p>\n

Messi has had an offer this week to sign for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia\u2019s Pro League, where rival Cristiano Ronaldo already plays, for in excess of 400m euros for one season, according to Balague.<\/p>\n

He has also had an approach from Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, the club who his former Barcelona team-mate and friend Sergio Busquets is expected to sign for next season. Busquets is not committed to that move yet because he is hoping to be reunited with Messi.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the MLS, they can never pay what Al-Hilal and PSG can offer. The hope for Inter is that Messi feels it\u2019s time to abandon the elite and be in a quieter place to be ready for the Copa America,\u201d said Balague.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone that says Messi has decided one way or the other would be lying. He will take a decision at some point of course but the priority is to stay in the elite game until 2024 and the Copa America, which puts PSG still in the forefront.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarcelona have made no offer, the offer from Inter is very clear and has been for a while, and then the other offer for 400m-plus wouldn\u2019t keep Messi in the elite but it is a crazy financial package and the possibility of playing against Ronaldo again. So that\u2019s where we stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eritrea<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. Everything is a possibility\u201d with regards to where Lionel Messi will be playing next season, says Spanish football expert Guillem Balague. Balague says the Argentina captain has received offers from Saudi Arabia and the USA\u2019s Major League Soccer, while there is interest in bringing him back to Barcelona, albeit no official offer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":15766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[242,243,233],"class_list":["post-15767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eritrea","tag-eritrea"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere will Messi be playing next season? - Eritrea<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everything is a possibility\u201d with regards to where Lionel Messi will be playing next season, says Spanish football exper ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where will Messi be playing next season?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everything is a possibility\u201d with regards to where Lionel Messi will be playing next season, says Spanish football exper ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eritrea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-07T17:10:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-07T17:47:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/27\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1680871252.42.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Where will Messi be playing next season?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-07T17:10:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-07T17:47:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season\"},\"wordCount\":1155,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/27\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1680871252.42.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Eritrea\",\"Eritrea\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/where-will-messi-be-playing-next-season\",\"name\":\"Where will Messi be playing next season? 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