Barcelona back brand Messi to be bigger than Air Jordan

Tom Weber

• Updated: 19 Apr 2023 11:01 BST
• 3 min read

Lionel Messi's triumphant return to Barcelona appears to be inching ever closer, and the Catalans are confident that the signing will give the club an economic boost.

The Lionel Messi saga has been rumbling on ever since he first signed for Paris Saint-Germain. Rumours about an eventual return never quite disappeared and now, with his contract in France expiring, a comeback is a distinct possibility - or, if you were to ask charismatic and controversial Blaugrana president Joan Laporta, a distinct probability.

When a fan recently enquired about Messi's return, Laporta responded with a simple but telling 'yeah,' and indeed the club have made no secret about their intentions to bring the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner back. This won't be an easy feat, however, seeing as though Barcelona are still mired in financial troubles and the Casa Negreira, the match-fixing scandal, is still looming large.

READ: Barcelona joy as PSG choose their Messi replacement

In order to pull off the signing, Barcelona have proposed drastic budget reductions that will see the entire playing squad hit with sizeable pay cuts, if reports are to be believed. This is just one of the club's many 'financial levers' and despite the massive outlay that signing Messi would entail, they believe the return on investment would be well worth their troubles.

Another day, another lever

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are confident that a Messi comeback would bring in revenues of an unprecedented scale. Indeed, they estimate, claims the Spanish paper, that 25 to 33 per cent of next season's income would be generated by Messi alone.

More than it being just one 'last dance,' the Blaugrana want to tie the soon-to-be 36-year-old down to a two-year deal to be able to milk his brand for all it is worth, to put it bluntly. "Sources from Barça admit that monetising Messi's return well would be a great challenge," writes Mundo Deportivo, "and that, if done well, the economic return could be stratospheric."

READ: Winners and losers of Lionel Messi re-joining Barcelona

"Those same voices point out that if the Messi brand were well combined with that of Barça, this arrangement could generate as much or more than the 'Air Jordan' brand given that football is more global than basketball."