Staff Reporter.
Barcelona would not be able to resign Lionel Messi from Paris Saint-Germain in their current financial situation, LaLiga president Javier Tebas said on Wednesday.
Messi, 35, is expected to leave PSG at the end of the season and has been heavily linked with a return to the Camp Nou, with Barca striker Robert Lewandowski saying he hopes to play with him next term.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner left Barcelona in 2021 as the Catalan giants struggled financially.
“Today, he could not (be registered in LaLiga), but there is still time,” Tebas told a press conference.
“We’re not going to change the rules of financial control approved by the clubs to register Messi… even if it would be our wish that he returns to our league.”
Tebas said Barcelona could potentially balance the books enough by selling players.
Daily Mundo Deportivo reported on Wednesday that Barca have a “firm intention of bringing in Lionel Messi” this summer on a two-year deal.
Messi has struggled to reproduce his best form in Paris, scoring 31 goals in 69 appearances, and was booed by PSG fans earlier this month.
While Messi’s return would boost revenue for Barcelona as a club and city in merchandising, ticketing and tourism, it would also be great for Tebas and a league which has failed to boast a superstar of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s magnitude in the last few years while Cristiano Ronaldo also fled Real Madrid for Juventus in 2018.
Messi playing his football at Camp Nou is beneficial for everyone, but it was Tebas refusing to bend and make concessions on salary limits in 2019 that resulted in Barca failing to offer Messi a new contract in the summer of that year.