Barcelona are reportedly convinced they can bring Lionel Messi back to the club on a free transfer this summer, despite offering him lower wages than he was on when he left the club almost two years ago.
According to Sport, Barcelona want to give Messi a two-year contract worth a total of €50m, so €25m a year, which would be considerably less than the €100m a year he received from the Catalan giants previously.
It remains to be seen if the Argentina international will accept these reduced terms, especially as he could quite likely make huge money with a move to Saudi Arabia or the MLS.
The Guardian have linked Messi with Al-Hilal and Inter Miami as well as Barcelona, so it might come down to how much Messi wants to continue playing at the highest level in Europe and challenging for trophies like the Champions League.
It would certainly be romantic to see Messi back at his former club, as it was a pretty big surprise when he left them in the first place.
It hasn’t quite worked out for the 35-year-old in Paris, and it makes sense that his time in the French capital looks like being quite short-lived.