Lionel Messi’s return to Barcelona is looking even more likely as the days go by as Xavi Hernandez, manager of the club, has chosen four players to sacrifice to this effect.
The former Barcelona captain seems desperate to reunite with the man with whom he dominated European football as a player during his heyday. The club’s finances are not in the best place to pull the monumental return but it is understood that necessary efforts and steps are being taken.
Proposals to LaLiga regarding the feasibility of signing and maintaining Messi should he return have been submitted and now, Xavi has chosen four players who will be sacrificed on the altar of Lionel Messi.
According to Sport, Barcelona’s second captain Jordi Alba, alongside Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Franck Kessie will be told they have to leave the club for Messi to come in.
It has been previously established that all of these players have Barcelona in their heart and consider the club and the city as their home. In essence, an exit is not in their plans. These reports could cause some tension in their camps.
It is understood that while Messi’s imminent arrival is the main reason Xavi wants these four out, there are other players whose contracts need to be renegotiated and renewed.
Among them is key defender Ronald Araujo and exciting starlet and 2022 Golden Boy winner, Pablo Paez Gavira, popularly known as Gavi. Letting go of Alba, Fati, Torres and Kessie frees up the books to work on the contracts of said players.
The report from Sport remains a report until things begin to happen but fans are already up in arms over the potential loss of Ansu Fati, who inherited Messi’s number 10 jersey.
Fati broke multiple records in his debut year but an injury that saw him sidelined for almost a full season has slowed down his evolution. He has shown the sparks on occasion this season, being his first full one since recovery, but losing a prospect like him is not what fans are ready to accept.
In the case of Torres, Kessie and Alba, there are already good options to replace them within the squad. However, this is the side with which Xavi recovered the best Barcelona after replacing Ronaldo Koeman in the course of the 2021/22 season and winning LaLiga in his first full season.
A big change is needed to take Barcelona back to the very top sporting and financial-wise, but doing this to bring in 36-year-old Messi could be counterintuitive.
He may be the best player in the world but there are no guarantees he’ll be that for the next three years, a time luxury Barcelona do not have.
