Barcelona’s plan to sign Lionel Messi revealed

It’s been almost two years since that infamous date where Lionel Messi gave a press conference in which he confirmed the news Barcelona supporters feared and announced his exit from the only club he’s ever known.

Since he left, a return was on many people’s wishlist. Those dreams were dashed when it seemed like Messi had all but agreed to stay another season with PSG. However, things changed following the World Cup where he guided Argentina to the title.

The relationship between PSG fans and Messi has strained with the former booing the latter as they see him as one of the main culprits of their elimination in the Champions League.

Perhaps being fed up or his family never really settling in at Paris, it is looking unlikelier by the day he will continue with PSG come next season. Naturally, going back and re-signing for Barcelona has gained momentum.

The odds of Messi returning to what used to be home has only gone up with Barcelona believing they now have a viable plan to re-sign their former star.

Barcelona-based journalist Gerard Romero revealed the plan the club is working on with LaLiga to be able to register Messi if and when an offer is made and accepted.

The main thing is Barcelona plan on the sale of two “important” players as well as the lowering squad wages. If those conditions are met, then Lionel Messi will once again be Barcelona player.

However, that’s a very big “if.”

Breaking it down somewhat, the sale of two important players likely means the departures of Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres. Both wingers have struggled with the former unable to recover his form since his injury and the latter looking lost despite the number of opportunities given to him by Xavi Hernandez.

The obvious hurdle here is both players have to agree to move on. Unsurprisingly, the idea of both is to stay and succeed despite the door being open to them for a potential change of scenery.

If convincing them is going to be difficult, so too will be convincing the players to take a pay cut.

Barcelona tried using this tactic once before to mixed results. There’s little incentive for the players to accept even if they want Messi’s return. It is not unrealistic for players to want the club to stick to the terms of their contracts.

Barcelona put themselves in this predicament a bit by agreeing on extensions with Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto and, possibly, Sergio Busquets. All three are past their prime and Barcelona would have been better off moving on. This decision is more confusing given the fact they’ve yet to be able to register the extension for Gavi and Ronald Araújo.

While optimism continues to grow, nothing is set in stone.

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Barcelona have yet to send an official proposal and there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to meet the conditions they set upon.

There is always the option of selling players who are either out on loan or in the team who are not counted on by Xavi. Though what they can get for those players is anybody’s guess.

It seems there is a want by both Messi and Barcelona to have a reunion. But the club’s financial situation continues to be an issue. Barcelona need to submit their final budget plan to LaLiga on April 30. Once they do, we’ll have an idea the wage limits LaLiga will set and whether or not they have the wiggle room to hypothetically register Messi.