Barcelona fans chant for Messi in tenth minute

FC Barcelona look certain to return to the summit of Spanish football this season and were 12 points ahead of Real Madrid ahead of the visit of Girona on Monday evening.

But while a La Liga title is on its way back to Camp Nou, Barcelona fans are now focused on the possible return of another footballing icon. Lionel Messi is out of contact at Paris Saint-Germain this summer and Barcelona officials have approached his team with a view to securing a stunning return.

On Monday evening, Barcelona fans chanted ‘Messi, Messi, Messi’ in the tenth minute, in tribute to the club’s most beloved No. 10.

Supporters have been heard chanting Messi’s name during previous games after Barcelona-based sports publication Mundo Deportivo suggested that it could help to tempt the Argentine World Cup winner back to the club.

Will Messi come back to Barcelona?

Ever since his unceremonious departure in the summer of 2021, rumours of Messi’s return to Barcelona have never been far away. At the time financial regulations meant that Messi was forced to leave the club where he had established himself as one of the all-time greats of the game.

Last Friday, for the first time since Messi left, club officials confirmed that there had been contact made to help bring about a return.

Barcelona’s vice-president Rafael Yuste said: “I have this thorn in my side that Leo couldn’t continue at our club. Messi knows how much we appreciate him. I would love for him to come back. We’re in contact, of course, with them.”

But despite the affection shown by both fans and officials, there are some serious financial barriers to a Messi return.

Barcelona are in an incredibly precarious financial position, so much so that the club is currently unable to register young starlet Gavi on a first team contract. Significant departures would be needed to make room for Messi in the wage bill.

Certainly the club could not get anywhere near the reported $200 million per year that Messi could receive if he made the switch to the Saudi Pro League, where Al Hilal are eager to reunite him and Cristiano Ronaldo in the same league.