'I belong in Barcelona' - Lionel Messi reveals family dream of returning to former home after MLS playoff heartbreak with Inter Miami despite rejecting invite to anniversary celebrations

Messi has revealed that he and his family dream of one day returning to Camp Nou, but he has been unable to accept the club's invite to their 125th anniversary celebrations. According to Mundo Deportivo, the World Cup winner has "unavoidable commitments" on November 29 and will be unable to fly to Spain.

Messi tasted play-off heartbreak with Inter Miami this season, as the MLS club lost 3-2 to Atlanta United in Round One of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Whether Barca would be able to finance an actual deal to sign Messi remains to be seen, given that the prospect of financial meltdown remains very real.

Messi told 3cat: "We had to leave the city and Catalonia, but my children are Catalan and I have lived there all my life. I feel like I belong to Barcelona, in our mind [we are] always going to live there again in the future. My children, my wife and I miss life in Barcelona, we left a lot of things there."

Messi will have to lick his wounds after Inter's play-off defeat. He could next be in action when Argentina play Uruguay in March.