It would be ‘financially possible’ for Barcelona to re-sign Lionel Messi in 2023 – Barcelona vice-president says

Barcelona vice-president of economics, Eduard Romeu has disclosed that it’s financially ‘possible’ for Lionel Messi to make a sensational return to Barcelona next summer.

Messi departed Barcelona last summer to join PSG amid the Catalan giants’ financial issues, but his contract with the Ligue 1 side is due to expire in 2023.

The Argentine forward is expected to make a decision on his future after the World Cup in Qatar, and Romeu has declared that Barcelona could afford to bring Messi back to the Nou Camp.

‘It would be possible financially because if he returned it would be as a free agent,’ Romeu told El Mati de Catalunya Radio.

‘But it’s a decision which has to be made by the coaching staff and the player. It doesn’t correspond to me [to make those decisions], but it would be viable. Although I don’t have it in the budget.

‘He is an icon of the club. This will always be his home, but it will be a technical decision [if he returns].’

Despite his comments on potentially re-signing Messi, Romeu has admitted that Barcelona are still two years away from being in a healthy financial position.

‘We have saved Barça, but we still haven’t resolved it. We don’t have it healthy; it involves a lot of austerity, a lot of rigour and there is a lot of work to do,’ he added.

‘In the 2024/25 season we will be at the level that corresponds to us.’

Romeu has refused to talk down Barcelona’s chances of landing Messi, but the 35-year-old playmaker recently stated that he is ‘enjoying’ himself in Paris, hinting that he could extend his stay in the French capital.

‘I feel good, different from last year and I knew it was going to be like that,’ Messi told reporters.

‘Last year, as I’ve already said, I had a bad time, I never finished finding myself but this year is different. I’ve arrived with a different head, more accommodated to the club, to the dressing room, to the game, to my teammates.

‘The truth is I feel very good and I’m enjoying myself again.’