Messi deals PSG and Inter Miami transfer blow by telling Aguero his plans

Stuart Telford

• 24 Feb 2023 17:11 GMT
• 3 min read

Lionel Messi's long-time Argentina teammate Sergio Aguero appears to have given away the Paris Saint-Germain players' next career destination.

Messi's future remains up in the air. The 35-year-old is out of contract with PSG at the end of this season, and has thus far failed to agree fresh terms with the club.

Long-time employers Barcelona want their record goalscorer back, while Phil Neville has confirmed that David Beckham's Inter Miami are interested, and it was thought to be a three-horse race between them and PSG for the recent World Cup winner.

READ: Messi's father met with Barcelona about a return

But Aguero, who was part of the Albiceleste's celebrations in Qatar despite retiring with heart trouble in 2021, has now dropped a fourth club - and Messi's first - into the mix.

Aguero claims Messi to Newell's

"He's seriously considering the possibility of playing for Newell's [Old Boys]," Aguero said, as quoted by Brazilian outlet Universo Online.

Messi was with Newell's in his native Rosario as a youngster before moving to Barcelona at the age of 13 with the Camp Nou club promising to pay for hormone treatment that he needed.

READ: Lionel Messi at PSG: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23

He went on to score 672 goals for the Blaugrana - registering 303 assists - winning four Champions Leagues and six Ballons d'Or before leaving on a free to PSG in the summer of 2021 with the club €1.35 billion in debt.

A third former Argentina teammate, Maxi Rodriguez, has sought to pour cold water on the idea that Messi could be bound for Newell's.

"Kun is Kun," he said of Aguero. "He can't keep quiet. We'll see. It's hard to talk about this because then rumours snowball. Let's wait and see what happens and not get ahead of the facts."

Miami-based online newspaper Infobae claim that Newell's want Messi to play in a testimonial for Rodriguez, who also retired in 2021 with the Rosario team his final club, with that game also used to see if Messi would consider a return before his own retirement.