Inter Miami boss Tata Martino has shut all the rumors surrounding Lionel Messi. With the MLS season set to end later this month, there had been a suggestion that Messi could return to Europe to maintain his fitness for the Copa America 2024.
Subsequently, Barcelona has been tipped as an expected destination. However, Miami manager Martino has made light of the bits of hearsay.“Is he going for fun? Maybe he’s going to visit Barcelona,” he said while speaking in Spanish. “Other than that, I don’t know anything else about it,” Martino added. He also said that these rumors surprised him and disregarded them with a scoff.
🚨🗣️ Tata Martino (Inter Miami’s coach): “If Messi goes to Barcelona it will be for a visit (laughs). I am surprised by that rumour.” pic.twitter.com/j8nWDpuEGy
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) October 8, 2023
Media outlets reported that Messi could go on a loan deal to any top European Club in January. Barcelona obviously topped the probable club charts because of Messi’s history with them. He joined the Blaugrana as a 13-year-old and proceeded to turn into a club legend and seemingly their most prominent-ever player.
Barca manager Xavi has previously expressed in the past he couldn’t imagine anything better than to sign the World Cup winner, he played with at the Camp Nou.
After his ‘painful’ stay at PSG came to an end, fans expected Messi to sign for FC Barcelona for one last dance. Xavi was also constantly in touch with him. However, they could not materialize any kind of deal in the end due to FFP and other reasons.
Messi now holds the Barcelona records for:
▪️ Games (768)
▪️ Goals (663)
▪️ Assists (291)
▪️ Trophies (34)
▪️ Wins (537)pic.twitter.com/b7OUsg1CQ4— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 21, 2021
Players at Barcelona worship the 36-year-old, where he scored 474 goals in 520 appearances across all competitions. His achievements include bringing home ten La Liga championships, seven Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana cups, four UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. The Argentine won 6 Ballon d’Ors playing for the Catalan Club.
Lionel Messi is rumoured to join FC Barcelona on a loan deal after Inter Miami knocked out of playoff contention
Messi decided to make the move to the United States after his contract at Paris Saint-Germain expired at the end of last season. The Argentina international has been in sensational form since signing for Inter Miami, scoring 11 in 13 games. However, even the powers of Messi could not revive the MLS franchise, who were bottom of the league upon his arrival.
🚨 Lionel Messi & Inter Miami CF have been knocked out of the MLS playoffs, they will no longer play an MLS game till February.
Al-Hilal offered to sign Messi in the summer but he rejected Al-Hilal’s offer.#AlHilal remains the only unbeaten team in the #RoshnSaudiLeague after… pic.twitter.com/9GUs9dGQXD
— Saudi Foot (@SaudiFootPlus) October 8, 2023
Inter Miami lost 1-0 to FC Cincinnati at DRV PNK Arena on Saturday. It implies it is numerically unimaginable for the club to arrive at the latter stage of the season, while they right now sit 14th out of 15 groups in the Eastern Conference.
According to Spanish outlet ‘AS’, which has suggested that the 36-year-old World Cup winner will be free to head back to Spotify Camp Nou in January on loan for a proper send-off at the club where he spent 17 years. Although it seems dubious now, as the manager has cleared all the doubts around the air.