What now for Lionel Messi? Inter Miami eliminated from MLS playoffs

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 8 Oct 2023 08:21 CDT
• 3 min read

Inter Miami have been eliminated from the MLS playoffs, paving the way for Lionel Messi's potential loan return to Barcelona.

Inter lost 1-0 to FC Cincinnati on Saturday in Messi's injury-enforced absence, dashing any hopes they had of making the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Since Messi has signed for the David Beckham-backed franchise, they have lost just one of the 13 games he has played in, but won only one of the six he has missed.

READ: Messi will sign with Barcelona in January on ONE condition

Barcelona tried to bring Messi back to Camp Nou this summer when it was clear he wouldn't renew his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, and according to AS, a loan return was lined up for January should Inter not make the Playoffs.

That has now come to pass, although Inter manager Tata Martino played down the prospect after the Cincinnati game.

'Is he going for fun?'

"Is he going for fun? Maybe he's going to visit Barcelona," the former Barcelona boss said when pressed by journalists. "Other than that, I don't know anything else about it."

READ: Lionel Messi at Inter Miami: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2023

The regular MLS season won't resume until February, giving Messi five months to fill, and he doesn't have to look far for a precedent.

Beckham had two spells on loan with AC Milan in 2009 and 2010 when still an L.A Galaxy player, but had two more uninterrupted years with his parent club, concluding his career with them with 124 appearances.

It seems unlikely Messi's former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba will follow suit - at least as far as returning to Camp Nou.

Barca have been impressed with Oriol Romeu since signing him to replace the former, while the nascent Alejandro Balde is part of why Alba was allowed to leave in the first place.