The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been with Barcelona since the age of 13, but spent 6 years in the Newell’s Old Boys academy prior to joining Barca.
There have been occasional rumours linking Lionel Messi away from Barcelona. Each summer it seems there are vague murmurs about a club making a ludicrous move to sign the world class forward.
Never has there been a genuine reason to believe that the player was heading for a Camp Nou exit though, and Messi himself has always maintained that he has no desire to leave.
Now though, the Argentine magician has revealed that there is one club he would like to play for following 15 years in Catalonia, and that is his former club Newell’s Old Boys.
Newell’s Old Boys are without a win in 4 home games
When asked if a return to Newell’s was something which interested Messi, the four-time Champions League winner replied, “I would love to.”
“It is something I have kept an eye on because it was my dream as a child,” Messi revealed, having left Newell’s in 2001 when offered a place in Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy.
He added that, “I want to play in Argentine football and Newell’s, where I grew up.”
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Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game, and he would be a huge asset to a struggling Newell’s team, even in his mid-late thirties one would imagine.
The Barcelona star wouldn’t be the first South American to return to his homeland and a former club in the latter stages of his career, with it being a common path taken by a number of other Brazilian and Argentine greats.
Carlos Tevez recently swapped Juventus for Boca Juniors, whilst Diego Milito left Inter Milan for boyhood side Racing Club in 2014, with both enjoying much success.
Carlos Tevez left Juventus for Boca Juniors the season after reaching the Champions League final
Despite stating that it had been his dream to play in Argentina and with Newell’s, Messi went on to admit that he unsurprisingly had “no regrets” that his life “went another way”.
Messi has scored three goals in four games for Barcelona this season, having scored 41 in 49 last season, and is once again among the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or.
Taking that into account, the 29-year-old is unlikely to swap Barcelona for Newell’s anytime soon, but it appears to be a move he is serious about making later on in his career.
Will Messi ever return to Argentina, or do you think he’ll retire at Barcelona?
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