Lionel Messi has continued to drive speculation that he will return to Barcelona this summer after being pictured having dinner with his former teammates in Catalonia on Monday.
Messi’s contract with Paris Saint-Germain is due to expire at the end of the 2022/23 season.
DEPREDICT understands that PSG have accepted that the Argentine is unlikely to put pen to paper on a new deal in the French capital, while he and his representatives had planned to talk to Barcelona this month regarding a potential return to his old club.
Messi has spent the last two days in Barcelona and fans chanted his name during La Blaugrana’s 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday.
On Monday night, Jijantes revealed footage of the 35-year-old leaving a restaurant in the city where he is said to have had dinner with ex-Barça teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
Messi previously had dinner with Busquets and Alba in Catalonia back in February, though at that time it appeared more likely that he would sign a new contract at PSG.
Will Lionel Messi rejoin Barcelona?
Alba spoke to Goal last week about Messi possibly rejoining Barcelona, though insisted it has never been a topic of discussion among the pair.
“It is Leo’s decision. Honestly, we haven’t talked about this topic, but it’s clear that in the end, seeing Messi with another shirt other than Barça’s is always weird,” he said.
“In the end, if he wants to and the club wants to, it’s perfect for me. He has been the player with whom I have understood the best on the pitch.”
In a recent interview with Cadena SER, club president Joan Laporta insisted that Messi will return.
But in order for Barcelona to meet financial regulations, La Liga president Javier Tebas has stressed that the club must sell players in order to bring new ones in.
“Barça must take many financial measures to undertake Messi’s registration. They need lot of effort to make it happen,” he said.
“Today, I don’t see his signing as feasible. But there’s a lot of time left – Barça can still make moves to get Leo. We are still awaiting a feasibility plan from Barcelona. They need a big effort to make it happen. They can sell players, for sure – but they still have some players to register too.”
