Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi feels he deserves a chance to say a proper goodbye to his former club Barcelona and would relish a farewell game at the Camp Nou.
Since leaving for Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent in August 2021 because of the financial crisis at Barça, there has been talk of a tribute match to honour the Argentina captain.
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Owing to Covid restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Messi’s last game for Barcelona came in a 2-1 loss to Celta Vigo at an empty Camp Nou in May 2021.
“I would love to be able to say goodbye to people in another way,” Messi, 36, told a news conference in Paris after winning the Ballon d’Or on Monday
“I think there was a strange feeling when I left. It’s not good with everything we shared and lived together. I deserve to be able to say goodbye to people. Barcelona is my home, I love the club and the people. If it [tribute game] happens, I would be happy to be there…”
Messi, Barça’s all-time top scorer, spent 20 years with the Spanish outfit and won 35 trophies during his time there.
Barça sporting director Deco recently said that Messi will “definitely play” a farewell game at Barcelona while club president Joan Laporta has previously mentioned that it would be fitting for that to coincide with the official opening of the revamped Spotify Camp Nou stadium, planned for the 2025-26 campaign.
The managing owner of Inter Miami, Jorge Mas, believes it’s important for Messi to say goodbye to Barça fans.
“I gave [Messi] my commitment that I will do everything possible in the coming years so that he has the opportunity to say goodbye to his fans in Barcelona,” Mas said.
Messi had considered a return to Barça before joining Inter Miami after his contract with PSG expired in June.
While he expects to live in Barcelona again one day, playing for Barça is not something he is thinking about.
“I follow Barcelona as I always did,” Messi said. “Football takes many turns and anything can happen, but it’s not something that catches my attention today.
“I could come back. I’m going to live in Barcelona, it’s the club that saw me grow, that gave me everything, that I gave everything to, which I love. I can collaborate from somewhere and give the best for the club. But it is not something I think about today. I don’t know if what I have left is a lot or a little, but I want to enjoy it. I will be close and I will always go to be linked to that club.”
The 2022 World Cup winner is contracted to Inter Miami until December 2025.
“I don’t know if I have a lot or a little left, but after the career I’ve had, the only thing I have left is to continue enjoying it,” he said.
“As long as I am physically well, I will continue competing, hopefully it will be a long time.”
On Monday, Messi won the Ballon D’Or for a record eight time at a ceremony in Paris after leading Argentina to the World Cup last year.
“I’m grateful for the career I’ve had, the moments I’ve experienced, and obviously in the last few years having won the Copa America and above all the World Cup because it finished off a lot of things,” Messi said in an interview to ESPN after the ceremony.
“First the dream of any player of being a world champion, then having fought for so long and having missed out, that it finally came and in that way… And above all because it’s what I was missing. I had it all and I was missing the most important thing, with what it means for a player to be a world champion, for us in Argentina after such a long time.
“It’s all very special.”