Barcelona Eyes Messi’s Return, Plans To Sell Three Key Players To Raise Funds

La Liga giants, Barcelona, are reportedly making plans to re-sign Lionel Messi from France club, Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi left Barcelona in August 2021 for PSG, Naija News recalls. The 35-year-old Argentine star has until June this year for his current contract to end at PSG.

A Spanish news outlet, Fichajes, however, claimed that Barcelona is willing to offload the likes of Franck Kessie, Raphinha and Andreas Christensen from the club to raise funds to resign their legend, Messi.

Messi’s future at PSG is uncertain at the moment, joined by reports alleging the multiple Ballon d’Or winner is being mocked at the French club.

Recently, Barcelona president, Joan Laporta spoke about Messi’s return to the club when a fan asked him about the same in a recent clip that went viral on social media.

However, given Barcelona’s financial constraints right at the moment, signing Messi back won’t be that straightforward, as the Blaugrana will have to lighten up their wage bill first by selling off some players such as Kessie, Raphinha and Christensen, according to the report.

Aubameyang And Firmino In FC Barcelona’s Transfer Wishlist

Meanwhile, FC Barcelona reportedly has Chelsea out-of-favour striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino on their wishlist ahead of next summer.

Though Robert Lewandowski is still Barca’s number one striker, the Spanish club wants to sign either Firmino or Aubameyang as a competitor of the Polish striker.

Recall that Aubameyang spent a part of last season at Barca after he left Arsenal in January 2022. He was impressive in his short spell at the club but the arrival of Lewandowski reduced his game time which forced him to join Chelsea last summer.

Re-signing the Gabon striker from Chelsea is expected to be very cheap, and Firmino, whose Liverpool contract expires on July 1, will become a free agent this summer, giving Barca’s coach Xavi reliable and cheap options over Lewandowski.

The 33-year-old’s mentality is believed to have remained top-notch at Chelsea even though he has lost his place in the team’s starting lineup. He has continued to work hard in the gym to continue to push for a spot in the starting eleven.

Aubameyang is still not a part of Chelsea’s long-term plans, despite this, the club is willing to let him go this summer as part of what is anticipated to be a sizable player purge given the number of additions they made in the last two transfers windows.

Aubameyang wanted to return to Barca last January, but the Spanish club failed to make the necessary financial commitments.

Despite being close to the upper limit of its financial fair play capability, the club is attempting to negotiate more flexibility with La Liga for the 2019 season.

If a deal does not work out for Firmino, Barca intends to work toward Aubameyang’s return to Barcelona in the upcoming weeks given that he still has one year left on his Chelsea deal.

The former Arsenal forward’s return to London with Chelsea has not gone well. He has scored just three goals in 20 games in all competitions.