Pep Guardiola has told ESPN Argentina that Lionel Messi “will do the impossible” to return to former club Barcelona when his Paris Saint-Germain contract ends this summer.
Messi’s father and agent Jorge Messi issued a statement on Tuesday denying that the forward has an agreement in place to move to Saudi Arabia next season. Sources previously told ESPN that Messi will leave the Paris club in the summer and he is considering an offer to join Al Hilal, the city rivals of Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al Nassr.
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Messi was forced to leave Barca in August 2021 when the LaLiga club’s financial squeeze left them unable to register a new deal for the Argentina captain. The Catalan club’s vice president Rafa Yuste said in March they were in contact with the 35-year-old over a potential return.
“I’m a Barcelona fan, I’ve got my tickets [at Camp Nou], and I just hope that one day we can say goodbye to him as he deserves,” Guardiola told ESPN. “He’s the greatest player of all time.
“In the last 12 years or so, Barcelona had a ‘boom’ and that wouldn’t have been possible without him. And I’m not talking about numbers, but rather his involvement in the play, his beauty, his efficiency, his efficiency, everything.”
Guardiola coached Messi at Spotify Camp Nou from 2008 until 2012, winning three LaLiga titles and two Champions Leagues.
