Will Messi show up with the Ballon d’Or at Princes Park? The best player in history also spoke about returning to Barcelona

Lionel Messi won the eighth Ballon d’Or of his career on Monday night, reaffirming his position as the best footballer in history. After the gala, he attended a press conference where he answered questions about whether he would return to Barcelona or whether he would show up with his prize at the Parc des Princes.

And there it is. The end of an era. On Monday, Lionel Messi most likely won his last Ballon d’Or, capping off an era where he was the best footballer on the planet not only in his time, but in the history of football in general.

The number of his Ballon d’Or trophies stopped at eight. The other Cristiano Ronaldo has only five. Overall, the Argentine alone has more of these individual awards than any country combined.

Will Messi return to Barcelona?

Lionel Messi is now spreading joy outside Europe as he is an Inter Miami player and enjoying football and life in the United States. In doing so, his possible return to Barcelona was discussed over the summer.

Even after signing for the Florida outfit, speculation has not stopped that he could arrive in Catalonia at least on a loan deal to make his farewell to the club of his heart a little more pleasant than it was when he left.

At the press conference after the Ballon d’Or awards, he answered a question that was specifically about his possible involvement with Barcelona.

“There was a bitter aftertaste when I left. Of course I don’t like that. I would like to change the way this story ended. I deserve to say goodbye to the people who have given me so much joy in my life. If that could be done, I would be very happy,” Goal quotes him as saying.

PSG fans probably won’t see the Ballon d’Or at Parc des Princes

It is customary that when a footballer wins the Ballon d’Or, he shows it at the stadium of the club that won it. Alternatively, the club that helped him in his career and where he started, as Karim Benzema did when he showed up at the Olympique Lyon stadium.

Lionel Messi won the most prestigious individual award for the 2022/23 season for his performances at PSG and in the Argentina national team. But his engagement in Paris did not go ideally for several reasons.

“I’m not entirely sure the Parisians want me to show the Ballon d’Or at the Parc des Princes. My time in Paris didn’t go the way I wanted for various reasons. I lived there for two years, I have good friends there, I enjoyed the city. It’s an incredible city, but from a sporting point of view it wasn’t the same. But I remember all the good things I experienced, and there were a lot of them,” said the best footballer in history.

Among other things, Messi noted that moving from Paris was uncomfortable for his sons, who wanted to stay with their friends at school. Moreover, they liked the city. Now, however, they are getting to know life in Miami and it is not impossible that they will return to Europe.

As already mentioned, the Argentine would like to return to Barcelona and it is not impossible that he will one day be in Catalonia after his playing career ends in some other role.

Source: Ballon d’Or, Goal