Messi and a loan at Barcelona? The dream of many fans may soon become a reality

Inter Miami have 3 games left to play in the MLS regular season. Before the arrival of Lionel Messi, the team was hopelessly last, the Argentine has lifted the team, but there is still a loss of five points to the places guaranteeing the playoffs.

Coach Gerard Martin’s charges have a really tough task ahead of them. In the next match they have to beat Cincinnati, which is basking with a comfortable lead in the first place of the Eastern Conference. The remaining two games the team around Messi will play with Charlotte, which is just above Miami in the table. However, these two games may not make a difference.

Everything could have been very different if Lionel Messi had not gotten injured against Toronto on September 21. In fact, since then, Inter Miami has failed to win a single game. The team even lost the US Open final against Houston. However, with the Argentine in the lineup, Beckham’s team would have probably had 8 more points and probably advanced to the knockout fights.

What will happen to Messi after the season? The last game against Charlotte is scheduled for October 22, and the next season doesn’t start until February. A four-year break would certainly not be good for the Argentine. The possibility, which all foreign media started speculating about, will probably not surprise anyone.

If Inter Miami do not advance to the MLS playoffs, Messi could go on loan to Europe, everyone seems to suspect that it could be Barcelona in particular. The Argentine could thus bid Barcelona a final farewell and write his “The Last Dance” here.

However, the question remains whether the current Barcelona management would be interested in a loan and how much percentage of the salary would Barcelona have to contribute to the current employer. Messi could thus help his beloved club to maybe even another LaLiga title.

It wouldn’t be the first time, and probably not the last, that an MLS star would decide to guest star in Europe after a season. Probably the most surprising loan was Thierry Henry’s return to Arsenal. In January 2012, the French cannonballer returned to Arsenal for a month-long loan spell, even notching up a Champions League start and managing to split the net against Sunderland to bid a grand farewell to his London career.

The same case as Thierry Henry was experienced by English icon David Beckham, who signed for Los Angeles Galaxy after leaving Real Madrid. He even experienced loans in Europe two years in a row, namely in 2009 and 2010. In both cases, they were guest spells at AC Milan in Italy, who were having a glorious time at the time. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t mean a Serie A title in either case.

Probably the most controversial loan from an American competition to Europe was made by Frank Lampard, a legend and the top scorer in Chelsea’s history. After his contract expired in 2014, he signed for New York City, who within days sent him back to England on loan, not to Chelsea, but to rival Manchester City. The Englishman even scored a goal for Chelsea in a mutual match.

Finally, another loan is worth mentioning, in the case of Robbie Keane. After the end of the 2012 season, the Irish cannonballer signed for English Aston Villa in which he recorded a great record of three goals in seven games played. The main motivation was to keep the roster ahead of the Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, where the striker bid farewell to his national team career.

Source: MLS