Dani Alves tells Messi to return to Barca
Robin Bairner
- 19 Jan 2022 12:44 GMT
- 3 min read
Lionel Messi should finish his career at Barcelona, according to former team-mate Dani Alves.
Messi departed the Camp Nou club for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer after it became apparent that Barcelona would be unable to register the Argentina forward due to his high wage demands and the club’s financial issues.
However, life has not gone smoothly for Messi in Ligue 1. Although he has missed a number of fixtures due to a succession of different issues, ranging from a lack of fitness when he first arrived in August to international duty, his return of just a single league goal with more than half the campaign played is undoubtedly disappointing.
Messi has fared better in Europe, returning five goals in five Champions League matches, but there remains a sense that he has disappointed so far at PSG.
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Alves wants Messi back
Perhaps seeing his former colleague’s troubles, Alves has told Messi to re-join him at Barcelona.
“I’ve already said the best place for him is here,” Alves told Catalunya Radio, having himself only recently returned to the Camp Nou side after departing for Juventus in 2016.
“He said the same thing to me when I left. It would be a great thing for him to finish his career here.”
Alves backed Messi, who finished second behind Robert Lewandowski in FIFA’s The Best Male Footballer award earlier this week, as the game’s all-time great.
“Messi is the best footballer in history,” the right-back said of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner. “It’s strange to be here and not to see him, not to have him on the touchline.”
Messi had spent his whole career with Barcelona up to this summer, and he has at least another 18 months to run on his deal with PSG, although the indications are that he will one day return to Camp Nou in some capacity.
