Cliff Notes – Lionel Messi hints at Barcelona return? ‘I hope one day’
- Lionel Messi expressed a desire to return to Barcelona’s Camp Nou for a proper farewell, which he missed during his departure in 2021 due to financial issues at the club.
- Club president Joan Laporta has suggested hosting a tribute game for Messi to inaugurate the revamped stadium, which is expected to be completed by 2027.
- Messi recently visited the Camp Nou after leading Inter Miami to victory in the MLS playoffs, scoring twice in their recent match.
Lionel Messi hints at Barcelona return? ‘I hope one day’
Lionel Messi said he hopes to return to Spotify Camp Nou for the goodbye he “never got” as a player at Barcelona after visiting the revamped stadium for the first time on Sunday.
Messi, back in Spain ahead of joining up with Argentina, posted photographs on social media inside Camp Nou just over 24 hours after firing Inter Miami into the next round of the MLS playoffs.
“Last night, I returned to a place that I miss with all my heart,” he wrote alongside the images on Monday.
“It’s a place where I was immensely happy, where you made me feel like the happiest person in the world a thousand times over.
“I hope that one day I can return, and not just to say goodbye as a player, as I never got to do…”
Lionel Messi teased a Barcelona return in a social media post. Lionel Messi’s Instagram
Messi, 38, spent most of his career at Barça before making a hasty exit to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 due to the Catalan club’s financial problems.
As a result — and in part also due to the Covid restrictions in place at the time — Barça’s record appearance holder and goal scorer was unable to properly say goodbye.
Club president Joan Laporta has spoken since about a desire to bring Messi back for a tribute game, suggesting it would be the perfect way to inaugurate the new Camp Nou, which has been closed for redevelopment since 2023.
“It would be a great way to open the stadium [when it’s completely finished], with 105,000 packed in and paying tribute to Leo,” Laporta reiterated to reporters after an open training session in front of 23,000 fans at Camp Nou last week.
“Always, of course, depending on what [the Messi camp] wants. There are also presidential elections before then, but in the case I am still president, I would love that.”
Messi, whose relationship with Laporta cooled following his departure, has never previously commented on the possibility of returning to participate in any such game. Work is still ongoing on Camp Nou.
Barça currently have a license to host games with 25,991 fans present, but hope to secure a permit to increase that to 45,401 later this month, at which point they will return to the arena having spent over two years playing at the Olympic Stadium in the city.
However, the third of three tiers still needs to be finished and the roof added. When the refurbishment is completed done, which is not anticipated to be until 2027, the capacity will rise to 105,000.
Messi returned to Europe over the weekend after scoring twice on Saturday as third-seeded Inter Miami ousted sixth-seeded Nashville SC in the decisive Game 3 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
– Messi tracker: Goals, assists, key moments for Inter Miami
– Lionel Messi’s brace leads Miami to 1st MLS playoff series win
He also assisted two goals as Inter Miami set up a clash with FC Cincinnati in the Eastern semifinal.
However, he is currently back in Spain ahead of joining up with the Argentina national team in Alicante ahead of Friday’s friendly against Angola in preparation for next summer’s World Cup.
During 17 years in Barça’s first team, Messi scored 672 goals in 778 appearances, winning 34 trophies, including 10 LaLiga titles and four Champions League titles.