Barcelona, as they did last year, hope to get some of their free transfer business done early this summer. Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen were both acquired when their previous seasons' contracts with Milan and Chelsea expired.
Barcelona are aiming higher than ever before this season. There is no hiding the fact that the Catalans are planning a major summer move to bring back Lionel Messi, their former captain, and a club hero. The 35-year-old's contract with PSG is up at the end of the season, meaning he will be a free agent come the summer.
The Argentine departed the club in 2021 after more than two decades because of their financial crisis, which prevented them from renewing his contract and served as a symbol of the team's decline. The Camp Nou side underwent significant restructuring, and thus it is widely thought that they are making every effort to get Messi back.
How to Barcelona plan to bring Lionel Messi back and when?
Since the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner wants to remain in Europe and contract discussions with Ligue 1 winners Paris Saint-Germain have stalled, Barcelona are in a strong position to recruit the great. Now, fresh rumors out of Argentina indicate that Messi may have already made a choice on his future.
"Messi's return to Barcelona has already been done, it's just that they haven't made it official yet. Only a Tsunami can leave Messi out of Barcelona," Spanish journalist David Valdearenas has told TyC Sports. Moreover, he claims that the forward and his spouse have already agreed to enroll their children back at their former Barcelona school.
They both attended this school until August of 2021 when they upped the stakes and moved to Paris. The 35-year-old romantic comeback to Camp Nou is something the club hopes to finalize in June or July, before the start of preseason, so that he may join the team on the preseason tour of the United States.