Barcelona have reportedly made a stunning last-ditch attempt to keep Lionel Messi at the club despite a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain looking all but certain.
This is according to a report from Catalan source La Porteria, who suggest there could still be a shock twist to the Messi transfer saga this summer, and it’s certainly raised a few eyebrows.
There had been plenty of talk that Messi to PSG was basically already a done deal, with the club planning to unveil him by the Eiffel Tower in the coming days.
It now seems, however, that the Argentina international has still not left Barcelona to fly to Paris, and the club have contacted his father with one final offer to try to turn things around.
It remains to be seen if this is at all realistic, but Messi did make it clear in his farewell press conference that he didn’t want to leave the Nou Camp and thought he would be staying.
The 34-year-old was visibly emotional and admitted the circumstances of his departure came as a shock to him, so perhaps he’d still jump at the chance to sign a new deal if possible.
If this does happen it would be quite the story given that Barcelona officially announced his departure and had Messi give his farewell press conference in front of millions of viewers.