An ex-Barcelona player, who was the teammate of Lionel Messi, has admitted that he did not watch the Argentine’s road to the FIFA World Cup 2022 final in Qatar. Messi and Argentina were beaten in the first match of their campaign 2-1 by Saudi Arabia, however, they went undefeated after that and won the World Cup in the most dramatic fashion.
Gerard Pique, who has been struggling with his separation from Colombian singer Shakira, opened up recently about his issues. As revealed by El Programa de Ana Rosa, in an interview with John Nellis, Pique talked about how detached he was from the world due to his issues with Shakira.
“It was crazy, I didn’t watch any of the [World Cup] matches, except for the final. I needed to disconnect and go on holiday for a few days, the last few months have been complicated for me, I needed to disconnect from football,” he explained.
⭐️ MESSI ⭐️
Our @adidas Golden Ball Award winner!#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 18, 2022
Messi scored seven goals at the World Cup in Qatar. It was essential in his nation’s triumph and also for him being crowned the player of the tournament. Messi scored a brace and Kylian Mbappe scored a hat trick in the final for the score to be deadlocked at 3-3 after 120 minutes. Argentina won the final in a penalty shootout due to goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez’s heroics.
Lionel Messi is rumored to return to Barcelona in the summer of 2023
Messi won everything during his days at Barcelona. However, the Argentine had to, unfortunately, leave the club due to financial issues. He joined Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021. Since he left, there are millions of fans who want him to don the Barcelona shirt again. With Messi’s contract expiring in the summer of 2023, the dreams of these fans might come true.
Diario Gol’s latest report suggests that Joan Laporta, Barcelona president, is eager to re-sign Lionel Messi. A desperate offer has been arranged for the Argentine superstar. Laporta is set to utilize a plan he had previously used with Dani Alves.
🚨 One of the ways FC Barcelona can sign Messi: Offering him a €200,000/year salary, but then playing a tribute match — raising around €100M, all of which goes to Messi.@elnacionalcat [🥉] pic.twitter.com/M80y6gv8dM
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) March 9, 2023
According to the Spanish newspaper La Razon, in the contract, Messi would be offered only around $212,000 a year. This figure is significantly lower than the amount he would earn at any other club willing to buy him. However, a tribute match will be put in place for Messi. The tribute match collections are estimated to be around $106 million. All the money generated will be received by Messi.
Laporta is hoping for this plan to work. However, a new roadblock for the club is the corruption scandal that it is involved in. It is to be seen if Barcelona can still afford to bring Messi back and if Messi wants to come back.
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