Revealed: The FC Barcelona Player Messi Demands Must Leave Over ‘Family Betrayal’ If He Returns

Lionel Messi will demand that FC Barcelona sells former teammate Ansu Fati if he returns to the club this summer, according to reports.

The 35-year-old is out of contract on June 30, which is when the two-season deal he signed with Paris Saint Germain in the summer of 2021 after leaving Barca on a free transfer expires.

Messi gave out mixed signals in an interview with PSG’s YouTube channel uploaded on Monday, where he said: “The truth is I feel great” at the Parc des Princes.

“The first year I had a hard time adapting to Paris for different reasons,” Messi explained. “This season I started differently, with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of desire. [I’m] more comfortable with the club, the city and everything that Paris means.”

Messi also said “hopefully we can do great things in Paris” in reference to his teammate Kylian Mbappe. And while this has been accepted by some as Messi pledging his future to PSG and going on to exercising the option of an additional year in his contract, others aren’t reading too much into it while claiming he is referring to this season only.

It is still hoped by FC Barcelona fans that Messi can don his iconic number ’10’ shirt once more. But according to a report carried by El Nacional, Messi would demand that the jersey’s current occupant Ansu Fati is sold by the club because of the way the youngster “betrayed his family”.

What is meant by this is how Fati was once represented by the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s brother Rodrigo Messi.

In 2020, however, Fati parted ways with the Argentine to join super agent Jorge Mendes, who it is believed is currently sounding out offers from the PremierPINC
League for the former teenage prodigy.

Whether Messi personally has a vendetta with Fati is difficult to prove. But this might not even become an issue due to the club’s financial difficulties and the need to sell players this summer.

Fati makes a list of a reported six players that could all be offloaded, as La Liga president Javier Tebas warns Barca that they must shave €200 million ($212.5 million) from the wage bill.

With this in mind, Barca chief Joan Laporta is said to have presented a “final offer” to the Messi camp that would see him earn the minimum €200,000 ($212,500) annual salary but then pocket the proceeds from his farewell match that could reach an estimated €100 million ($106.5 million).