Messi ends Barca homecoming saga

Lionel Messi on Wednesday put an end to speculation about a romanticised Barcelona return after he announced his intention to join Major League Soccer side Inter Miami as a free agent.

The 35-year-old was also linked with a blockbuster move to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal, who had reportedly set up a historic deal for the 2022 World Cup winner that would make him the highest-paid athlete in the world with annual wages reportedly close to 500 million dollars.

While he will receive a far lower salary in Miami, the deal will likely include the option to purchase a percentage of an MLS team upon the end of his time as a player, the same kind of stipulation that led to David Beckham buying a portion of Inter Miami for just 25 million dollars.

The Argentine has reportedly also been offered a share of the revenue generated by new subscribers to MLS Season Pass, the league's streaming package, and entered a profit-sharing agreement with Adidas which would involve the player receiving a cut of any increase in Adidas' profits resulting from his involvement in MLS.

Barcelona had been forced to let Messi go in 2021 due to financial constraints stemming from their inflated wage bill and those same issues kept the Catalan club from securing a fairytale return by giving Messi the assurances that he sought.

Any move to Catalonia would have taken a lot longer, considering that the club were about 200 million euros over La Liga's salary cap and remain unable to register new contracts. Barcelona would have to sell several players just to get their books balanced well enough to offer Messi a contract that would likely pay him a fraction of what he stands to earn now. Whether they would have been able to do so remains up for debate, although they started making headway by announcing several departures.

"I really wanted and was very excited about being able to return [to Barcelona]. But on the other hand, after experiencing what I experienced and the way I left, I didn't want to be in the same situation again: waiting to see what would happen and leaving my future in someone else's hands," Messi admitted.

"I was accused of a lot of things during my career at Barcelona and I was a little bit tired of it, I didn't want to go through all of that again. When the time came when I had to leave, La Liga had agreed for the club to register me but in the end, it wasn't to be. I was afraid that the same thing might happen, and I would be left in the lurch.

"I wanted to make my own decision and that was partly why I decided against going back to Barça. I would have been delighted to if it had been possible, but it wasn't," he continued.

The Inter move dealt a great blow to Barcelona fans in Bangladesh as well, who hoped that Messi, following his 2022 World Cup triumph, would finish his career at what the player himself described as 'the club of his life'.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta gauged the public's pulse and decided to play to the same tune. On several occasions, he catered to the dream return for Messi, but would always leave out the details of how the club would manage the Argentine's signing.

"After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, it was time to go to the U.S. league to experience football in a different way and enjoy the day-to-day," Messi said.

"Obviously with the same responsibility and desire to want to win and to always do things well. But with more peace of mind."

"If it had been a question of money, I would have gone to Saudi Arabia or elsewhere where they offered me a lot of money," Messi said.

Barcelona said in a statement that Messi's father and agent had informed the club on Monday of his decision to move to America instead of returning to Spain.

"Barcelona president (Joan) Laporta understood and respected Messi's decision to want to compete in a league with fewer demands, further away from the spotlight and the pressure he has been subject to in recent years," the La Liga side said.

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said Thursday he understood Lionel Messi's desire to avoid the "pressure" of a return to the Catalan giants this summer. "He hasn't had a good time in these two years (in Paris) and now he doesn't want that type of pressure," Xavi said on Twitch.