'Messi won't return to Barcelona': Fans heartbroken after journalist gives fresh update

Lionel Messi has been linked to a move away from PSG. While he has been strongly linked to a Barcelona return, a journalist has claimed that it is not likely to be the case, with a move to Saudi Arabia very much on the cards.

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Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is playing his final season with reigning French champion Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), leading the side to another successful title defence and winning his second Ligue 1 title with the side. However, he has reportedly decided against extending his stay at the French capital. Consequently, he has been linked to a number of clubs.

While a return to his boyhood club, the newly-crowned Spanish champion Barcelona, was instantly a favourite, the club's financial struggles are making it seemingly difficult with each passing day of signing its boy back, despite the Argentinian open to take a pay cut. Meanwhile, football journalist Marcelo Bechler has affirmed that any return to Camp Nou for Messi is not happening this season.

"If anyone still had hopes of seeing Messi at Barça. Barca cannot offer or promise anything. Barring a completely off-script twist, it's the end of the line. The player will already start communicating to interested parties that it is no longer available," Bechler wrote on Twitter. At the same time, French publication L'Equipe has reported that the club is making one last attempt to strike a deal with Major League Soccer (MLS) side Inter Miami to sign him for free and then loan him to the Catalan.

Nevertheless, if a report by Foot Mercato is to be believed, Messi is already inching closer to completing a move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, which had already tabled a lucrative offer for him a month ago, while it is also being speculated that the contract might be worth over €1 billion in total.