Kessie KEY to Messi's Barcelona return

Tom Weber

• Updated: 6 Jun 2023 07:51 BST
• 4 min read

Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie could have a big role to play in facilitating Lionel Messi's return.

The Argentine club legend is being strongly linked with a return to the Camp Nou. Indeed, the Blaugrana chiefs have been quite open about their desire to bring the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner back and Messi's father and agent, Jorge, recently met with Barcelona president Joan Laporta to discuss the feasibility of a return.

While no formal offer was negotiated during this meeting, it reportedly did have the effect of convincing Messi's camp that a deal is possible, subsequently leading to them informing a Saudi delegation that they want to put off talks with Al-Hilal until 2024.

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Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano meanwhile claims that while Laporta was unable to make any guarantees to Jorge Messi, the two sides agreed that 'creative solutions' could be found. He also reiterated that Barcelona will need to sell players in order to get La Liga approval for a Messi deal.

This is where Franck Kessie comes in.

Kessie to Liverpool?

Reports in Spain claimed earlier today that Liverpool were working on a transfer for Franck Kessie and that they would be prepared to pay up to €35 million for the man who arrived at the Camp Nou as a free agent last summer.

While we are told that there is nothing to those rumours, Kessie could yet play an outsized role in the Messi saga. Barcelona need to raise funds - not just to sign Messi but in general to sort out their financial mess - and the former AC Milan star would be a sensible candidate to leave this summer.

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Indeed, he has repeatedly been linked with a move away, and it's not hard to see why: though he made some important contributions to Barcelona's first league title win since 2019 - like scoring arguably the title-deciding winner against Real Madrid in the Clasico - he has not been a guaranteed starter, and a top player in the prime of his career can't be satisfied with that.