Barcelona plot shock Lionel Messi return | OneFootball

Barcelona are lining up a sensational bid to re-sign Lionel Messi ahead of the 2026/27 season, reports in Argentina claim.

Messi tearfully parted ways with Barcelona after more than two decades in Catalonia during the summer of 2021, joining Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer after the Spanish giants failed to find a way to finance a new contract for their greatest ever player.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has spent the past year-and-a-half with Inter Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS), continuing to topple records and bewitch spectators during his first foray into professional football outside Europe.

However, for the first time since he arrived in America, there are growing whispers that Messi could return to Barcelona, according to TNT Sports Argentina. The Catalan giants are said to be "slowly preparing" a deal to lure the Argentine icon back to northern Spain with a contract that will contain "a large number of conditions".

Barcelona have pencilled in the summer of 2026, straight after the World Cup which will be jointly held by the US, as the time to bring Messi back. By the start of Spain's domestic campaign that year, the prolific playmaker will be 39.

Lionel Messi became Barcelona's all-time top scorer as a 24-year-old / PAU BARRENA/GettyImages

Before joining Inter Miami in 2023, Messi "really wanted" to return to his boyhood club but no deal could be struck. "I heard that [Barcelona] had to sell players or lower player salaries and the truth is that I didn't want to go through that," he explained at the time.

Barcelona's financial situation hasn't been greatly improved over the subsequent years - a matter of months ago the club had to appeal to the Spanish government to receive temporary registrations for Dani Olmo and Pau Victor.

Messi's current Inter Miami contract expires at the end of 2025, although last season's Supporters' Shield winners are confident of retaining their talisman. "As I have said before," Inter co-owner Jorge Mas told reporters in November, "and I will repeat it now: I fully expect that in the opening of our new stadium in 2026 and the opening of our 2026 MLS season after a trophy-laden 2025 season, that Leo Messi will be our No 10."

Whether he will ever wear those digits for Barcelona again remains to be seen.