Messi is arguably the greatest player of all time. He has 781 goals and 377 assists in 989 appearances. Messi. He has won 38 trophies in his stellar career with Barcelona, PSG and Argentina. Despite all of this Messi is without a doubt declining because of his age and it was seen especially last season as he only scored 11 goals in the whole season. Multiple sources claim that Messi is rumored to return to FC Barcelona when his PSG contract expires. Futbol Mundial brings you three reasons why Messi returning to Barcelona is a bad idea.
A Messi return would block youth growth at Barca
The first reason why Messi should not return is because of his age. I believe if FC Barcelona is to grow they need to build their team around young players. In the last few seasons Barca has shown and over reliance on players like Messi, Suarez, Aubameyang and Lewandowski.
Barcelona already have Lewandowski which I believe despite all his goals was a poor investment considering his age. The problem of relying on players 33+ is that they do not last for many seasons. For a club like Barcelona to grow they need players who can go for seven seasons or more. Messi is not the same as he is when he was 23 and Barcelona should move on past him and look for other players.
Messidependencia
The second reason is their over-reliance on Messi. The first half of last season proved how much they needed Messi’s goals. By match day ten last season they were in ninth position which is not at all by Barcelona’s standards. The last few seasons Barcelona proved that of it were not for Messi’s goals they would be far worse at the time. Their over reliance on Messi proved even more so when Suarez left and he was the only one racking up the goals for Barcelona. If Barcelona signs Messi they will just be going back to their old ways of relying on Messi. I personally believe for a club to grow they cannot rely on just one player but rather a team.
Messi no longer the main Barca talisman
Lastly Barcelona should not sign Leoi because they already have Lewandowski and he would not fit in Barcelona’s starting 11. Barcelona has Lewandowski, Dembele, Raphinha, Ferran, Fati and other attackers so Leo would just be giving Xavi more of a selection headache. Lewandowski is currently in better form than Leo with 12 goals this season compared to his 8. Lewandowski has shown no signs of slowing down despite his age and will definitely make Messi fight for his place as the main talisman. Besides Lewandowski is already 34 and Barcelona does not need too many old players.
