Lionel Messi back to Barcelona on loan?! A bad idea for everyone involved

The immediate issue is that this would be a massive problem for Inter Miami. Tata Martino's side were never really likely to make the playoffs — Messi or otherwise. The Herons were 12 points out of post-season contention when Messi joined, and had, by some distance, the worst record in MLS.

Despite not having played a football match in two months (and arguably hadn't taken one seriously since the World Cup final), things changed almost immediately when the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner arrived. Messi strolled his way to 11 goals and eight assists in his first 11 games, sealing a Leagues Cup triumph in the process. But once MLS got back up and running, the Argentine slowed down

Part of that was due to an injury picked up while representing Argentina during the September international break. Messi tweaked his hamstring against Ecuador on September 7, reigniting a recurring issue that has plagued him for some time now. As a result, he missed five of Inter Miami's next six matches — a stretch in which his team collected five out of a possible 18 points.

A Messi-less Inter Miami is a infinitely poorer team than when he is in it. Even if they make some moves this off-season — both Luis Suarez and Luka Modric have been linked — they are a far weaker side without their talisman.

In short, they simply cannot risk him picking up another injury ahead of the 2024 campaign, and Messi is better off resting up for a few months, especially since his summer break was cut short by his move across the Atlantic. Sending him back to Europe, regardless of the destination, is not in Miami's best on-field interests.

Messi admitted in an interview before he made his MLS move that he had originally wanted a return to Barcelona. He claimed that the club had told him for months that they would be able to hash out a deal — only to see it fall through at the last minute due to financial issues.

Messi even made a point of saying he "wanted to make my own decision" and walk away from a potential Barca move before a repeat of his farcical registration failure and ultimate forced departure in 2021. This is a player, then, who has moved on — even if he didn't want to.

Part of Messi's decision to move to the United States was for him to expand his career opportunities beyond football. At 36, Messi has become part-businessman, part-athlete. His MLS contract is reportedly connected to the sales of Apple TV subscriptions, and he will be buoyed by other sponsors. Crucially, he has also nailed down equity in Inter Miami as a club. It is not the same as the franchise rights that David Beckham was famously handed by the LA Galaxy in 2007, but it's close.

And although Beckham was handed a Parisian holiday for the final days of his career, Messi is now playing in a higher-profile and higher-quality version of MLS. He is now the face of a club that is garnering global attention; there is no need for him to re-open the European chapter of his career.

There is perhaps room for an appearance in Gerard Pique's online sensation Kings League, or even a Barca Legends fixture at some point. But for now, while Messi is still playing football, his obligation is to MLS and Inter Miami.

From the other side, you can see why Barcelona would be interested in bringing Messi back, even on a temporary basis. They need some good PR as they continue to be haunted by the Negreira refereeing scandal, while one of their minor investors has refused to pay up for a €40 million (£35m/42m) stake that was agreed last summer.

If there was ever a player who could inject immense cash and investment into the club, it is Messi. On shirt and ticket sales alone — as well as the marketing opportunities — Barca could certainly help themselves out. Manchester United, indeed, saw the same boost from Cristiano Ronaldo's return in 2021.

But the inverse of that is the distraction that it would inevitably cause. There is a very specific media circus that follows Barca, where every move made and word uttered seems to become news. Jules Kounde's outfits get extensive analysis from the Spanish media; every single one of Xavi's sentences from the most mundane of press conferences is analysed and picked apart; poor results are extrapolated and overblown while victories are fuel for those who believe a return to the glory days are just around the corner. This is an organisation riddled with distractions.

Now try throwing the most recognisable face in world sport into that dressing room. Xavi is a good manager, who coaches a very good team. That is worth attention enough without the weight of a club legend — the club legend — entering the fray. Barca are already hampered by off-field noise. They don't need another sound to add to that cacophony.

More broadly, Barca are better off without Messi. They effectively took two years to get over him, clearing a number of veterans who were brought in to supplement his talents, while also integrating youth into the team. In that stretch, they sacked Ronald Koeman, hired Xavi, nearly went bankrupt, signed top players they couldn't afford, and still needed another year to find something resembling success. A cynic might even argue that they only won last year's La Liga crown due to the dip in Real Madrid's performance.

This is a team that is still, in some sense, reeling from the loss of Messi. But in his stead, they have also managed to build something viable. Xavi has pieced together an interesting — if flawed — side, that has a real shot to win the league title again this year, and could make a decent run in Europe.

And it just so happens that their area of strength is where Messi might play. Xavi's system is complex, but the manager deploys four midfielders, and when at full strength, has to leave out one of Ilkay Gundogan, Pedri, Gavi, or Joao Felix. Most sides would be fortunate to be able to field those players at all.

And where, exactly, does Messi fit in that group? There is certainly versatility there, but Messi, aside from the undeniable spark to his game, doesn't provide more than any of the four. He is undoubtedly more creative than all of them, but that alone is not enough.

He doesn't tackle like Gavi, run like Pedri, or dominate the middle of the park like Gundogan. There is an argument to include him over Felix, but the Portuguese has found form quickly in Catalunya. Xavi himself has admitted that the Atletico Madrid loanee is crucial to his team's success.

In effect, then, Barca would be signing a player they cannot afford, in a position where he no longer functions.

And what of Messi himself in all of this? So much of the discussion surrounding a potential loan move has been around how Barcelona might make it work, or what it could mean for Inter Miami — and MLS at large.

But very few seem to have considered the reality that this is a 36-year-old whose body is aging. Hamstring injuries can plague any footballer of any age, but a look at the numbers, and consideration of the variety of injuries, shows that this is a player entering the twilight of his career.

Messi missed 15 games in the 2021-22 season, eight in 2022-23, and six in three months at Inter Miami. He has dealt with muscle injuries in both legs, while Martino has admitted that his star man simply might just need a rest sometimes — a proposition that has been met with outright disgust from the fans who have broken the bank to see him play.

There is also an emotional side to all of this. Messi may have enjoyed a post-World Cup holiday in January — or given the impression that he had a wonderful Saudi Arabian vacation a couple of months later — but this is a player who hasn't really had a break in years. He certainly has a lot to offer as a footballer, and should have little problem playing out the last year remaining on his Miami contract. But he will need some time to recuperate somewhere in between.

Footballers, and modern athletes in general, aren't given time to rest. Schedules and fixture lists are increasingly cramped, while the constant attention from the world around them doesn't offer much in the way of relaxation. That is just about manageable, or so we are led to believe, for the average footballer. What must it be like for one of the greatest to ever do it?

Messi now has three months off. His current team is out of the playoffs, while his former team cannot afford to sign him — and they might not want to, either. The Argentine's time in Barcelona is over; the footballing world needs to accept that.