FC Barcelona Reach Lionel Messi Transfer Agreement, La Liga President Believes: Reports

La Liga president Javier Tebas believes that FC Barcelona have already agreed to sign Lionel Messi this summer, according to transfer market expert Gerard Romero.

Romero was arguably the most reliable source on Barca’s transfer activity ahead of the 2022/2023 season, and broke several exclusives on the signings of players such as Raphinha and Jules Kounde.

With Messi about to become a free agent on June 30, and his future up in the air, Romero has recently reported on topics such as Messi having his house prepared in Barcelona and being ready to take a pay cut to make his return to the Blaugrana happen.

On Friday, as also relayed by El Nacional, Romero reported through his Jijantes FC account on Twitch that La Liga president Tebas believes Barca counterpart Joan Laporta has already closed a deal with Messi to don his iconic number ’10’ shirt at Camp Nou from next season onwards.

According to the Catalan digital newspaper, Tebas has started planning for the upcoming 2023/2024 campaign himself while taking into account that Messi will play under his former teammate Xavi Hernandez for the first time.

From a marketing perspective, Messi’s return could help La Liga compete with the English Premier League once more after being left behind in the aftermath of his departure to Paris Saint Germain in 2021 and Cristiano Ronaldo’s to Juventus in 2018.

Tebas has publicly warned Barca that they must shave €200 million ($218 million) from the wage bill, to satisfy the same salary cap that resulted in Messi leaving in the first place when Laporta failed to navigate the limits and offer the Argentine a new deal.

Romero further reported that the end of March saw Barca send a viability plan to La Liga explaining how they can make the Messi coup happen. This was still not enough to convince Tebas, meaning sporting director Mateu Alemany will have to return to the drawing board and provide an update in the coming days.

Even though this might be so, it doesn’t mean that Laporta hasn’t already agreed terms with Messi and his father and agent Jorge.