Spanish media claim Messi close to agreeing return to Barcelona

Will they ever move on?

Reports in Spanish media have claimed that Lionel Messi is close to agreeing a sensational return to Barcelona, and could be back at the Nou Camp from next season. Messi reluctantly left Barça for Paris Saint-Germain last summer after he failed to agree to a new contract due to the Catalan club's major financial issues off the pitch. The Argentine has failed to hit the exceedingly high standards during his time at France and has only scored seven times this season - with over half of them (five) coming in the Champions League. Messi himself has said previously that he would like to return to Barcelona in some capacity at some point of his career - however many believed that would be in a non-playing role. Whether Barça can pull off the deal is also another question. Despite investing heavily in January by bringing in the likes of Ferran Torres, Dani Alves, Adama Traoré and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, they are still facing copious amounts of debt. Reports in Spain however contradict the thoughts of the club's current chairman, Joan Laporta, who claimed that he doesn't apologise for the departure of Messi. The Barça president did admit though that the departure of the 34-year-old was a difficult moment for everyone involved. "It was painful," he told Barça TV, as per Mundo Deportivo. "If I take stock, it is the saddest decision of all and I would never have wanted to make it, but I am not sorry either because I wanted to put the institution ahead of everything, even ahead of coaches and the best player in history. "And we had to do it. Because the situation we inherited is what it was. And due to a lot of will and intentionality we had, we came across a reality.

"It might seem that there was nothing afterwards, but those of us who love Barça know that history continues and with work and well-thought-out decisions, we can continue on the path of success."

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