The whistles that keep Messi away from PSG: why he is three months away from returning to Barcelona

Messi he did not want to leave Argentina. He is already used to goodbyes, he does them automatically. Since he was 13 years old, he has been around Europe more than Rosario. Although this time he lived it differently. For 10 days he felt like the star of a rock band doing a tribute tour. On the pitch, on the street, on TV, day, night. At all times and in any place, Leo received love with the World Cup in his hand or drawn on his smile. He was the Messi of the people, the one who finally has unanimity in the country, the one who became a tattoo even for a teammate, the complete footballer that everyone wants to be when they grow up. He was the most local Messi of all time. In return, he had to return to a place where he feels more like a visitor than ever. He had to experience unknown sensations in the last two years. He said goodbye to his usual club, they presented him for the first time as a reinforcement, he moved his family, he reached his pinnacle of Argentine identity. Some situations he never imagined. Even less did he think that he could be whistled by his fans. On Sunday, even before losing 1-0 at home to Olympique de Lyon, the best player in the world heard whistles from people who were scorned, fans who didn’t deserve it. A combo that makes one think that Messi only has three months left in the PSG…

“It is embarrassing to listen to the whistles from the Park. You can’t whistle at one of the best players on the team, with 13 goals and 13 assists… It’s not easy to run an orchestra with three conductors. In Argentina he is the boss. You see how the players of his National Team look at him. His companions could die for him. When Leo feels that, he can’t face it, ”Thierry Henry opined with the same lucidity that he had on the pitch. The former French striker knows Messi for having shared a team in Barcelona. Everyone really knows that the 10 likes friendly contexts, feeling loved. The fight, the permanent conflict, is not fuel for him. Even less months before turning 36 and at the best moment of his life, when he knows how much the World Cup weighs. It would be necessary to remember archival phrases to ratify an idea that is gaining relevance today. In the hard times of the National Team, Messi once admitted to me that if he had been a club, he would have asked to be transferred. He suffered those days, although he only heard whistles one night with Colombia, in Santa Fe, after a 0-0 loss in the 2011 Copa América. Five years later, the 10th resigned from the National Team for a few months. Now that he can choose, then, the door of Barcelona reopens. Although the fans did not picket when he was released, they adore him, they would never dare to whistle him. And sports papers wouldn’t rate it a 3 for making noise. That he can return to his backyard, then, is not a media marketing title: it has support and more than an intention from Xavi, the current coach of the team who knew how to be Messi’s bodyguard on the pitch.

Months are coming to negotiate with common sense, cunning and wallet. Until now, as it was leaked in the midst of logical secrecy, The most concrete offer came or will come from PSG. There it does not seem enough to be the leader of Ligue 1 -a requirement that has more to do with bringing Messi, Mbappé and Neymar together than their history- but the whistles did not stop the desire of the club authorities to renew the contract that expires on June 30th. They know that with Messi they would be closer to winning the Champions League for the first time and that a couple of wins silence most of the fans of any club in the world. We will have to see Leo’s response. He is in the best position: to choose what to make of his life, where and with whom. In this instance, the Barcelona option appears. His departure from the club already left a scar, his farewell tears dried up and he could return to Laporta, even though he will never forget that it was the president who pushed him to leave. The leader himself whitewashed conversations with Jorge Messi, the father of crack, for a tribute match. Although beyond the media potpourri, the Spanish leaders should write a specific offer, something that has not happened so far. Leo would be able to listen and drastically lower his numbers to have another movie ending. Afterwards, it is necessary to see if, in the midst of its financial scandals and other herbs, Barcelona can put a letterhead to its illusion… There could be a scenario relatively similar to the National Team: it would play with young footballers who have it as an idol, that they would die for him, as Henry would say. And he wouldn’t shy away from top-tier competition. Although he will always remember the “that’s it, that’s it” by winning in Qatar, Messi wants to go once again for the Champions League.

Returning to Barcelona would be an ideal setting for Messi’s family project. It is a decision that he makes together with Antonela, his wife, and where the voices of Thiago, Mateo and Ciro, his three sons, are increasingly louder. He has his usual home there, the boys’ school, his friends, his customs, his people. Leo could be another Catalan if it weren’t for the fact that he will never stop speaking in Rosario and drinking mate with the National Team shorts. From that point it is very difficult to imagine him at Guardiola’s City, to give a top example. Moving to Manchester would be going to a city with another language, a hostile climate. I mean, it seems impossible. The third window that could be opened would be the MLS, a league in constant growth, which will invest heavily thinking about the 2026 World Cup, which the United States will organize together with Canada and Mexico. David Beckham wants him at Inter Miami and there is even talk of a negotiation for Leo to buy 30 percent of the club’s franchise. It would be a friendly place for the Messi, a city that he likes to the point of having spent vacations. He already once thought of retiring near the beach. It would be necessary to see if he would support not playing the Champions League. It is even more difficult to think that he can accept the millions to go back to competing with Cristiano in Saudi Arabia. Or think about fulfilling the boy’s dream and playing for Newell’s. It would be as difficult as fantastic to have him for at least six months, receiving tributes on all the fields in the country. Today he does not appear among the main options, even though Messi wanted to be at the Monument to the Flag more than at the Eiffel Tower…

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