Messi left the ranks of “Barca” in the summer of 2021, after the club’s management failed to renew his contract, after a short period of Joan Laporta’s election as president of the club.
The Argentine star moved to Paris Saint-Germain, where he played for two seasons before joining Inter Miami in a free transfer in the summer of 2023.
But the captain of the Argentine national team, the 2022 World Cup champion, sparked speculation with a visit to the Camp Nou stadium after its renovation, and expressed in several press interviews his longing to return to Barcelona, and his wish not to move to another club.
Commenting on this, coach Hans Flick said in a press conference before the match against Athletic Bilbao in the thirteenth round of the Spanish League: “Messi is the best football player in the last ten years, if not more, and I have always enjoyed watching him on the field, he is wonderful, and what he has done is amazing.”
Regarding the possibility of Messi’s return to “Barca,” the German coach replied: “Messi’s contract with his American club ends in 2028, while my contract with Barcelona ends in 2027, so it is not my responsibility to coach him.”
In another context, the coach of Barcelona added: “We are all happy to return to our stadium Camp Nou to face a strong team like Athletic Bilbao, which plays in the Champions League, and includes a group of distinguished players in all lines, they are a strong team, and facing Bilbao will be a great opportunity for us to assess our current situation.”
Hans Flick continued: “I think we prefer to play at Camp Nou, this is our reality. When we trained there, and when I went up the stairs and entered the stadium, the feeling was wonderful. It’s a football stadium, and that’s what we love, we are very happy, I hope that the proximity of the stands to the field will give us an additional advantage.”
He pointed out: “In Montjuïc, the audience supported us strongly, and wonderfully, and there is excellent communication between the team and the fans.”
The coach of Barcelona spoke about the possibility of topping the standings if they win against Bilbao, stressing: “We deal with each match separately. This is what we want, there is still a long way to go until the end of May, and like last season, we should never doubt what we want to do and our style of play.”
Flick confirmed: “We will continue to perform in the same way this season, and we know that Real Madrid is a strong competitor, but there are other competitors, such as Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, they are great teams. We have to focus on ourselves and give our best performance in every match, this is our way.”
In a separate context, Hans Flick touched on the crisis of Lamine Yamal and his sudden exclusion from the Spanish national team after Barcelona’s decision to subject the player to a quick surgery to recover from the pain of his groin injury.
The Barcelona coach said: “You know that Lamine Yamal is our player, and we care about our players, and the Spanish national team cares about them too, and I think that his exclusion from the camp this month was the right decision, Lamine is making a great effort, and he is very disciplined, and it is very important that he learns how to manage everything. He has done well.”
Flick pointed out: “Lamine Yamal has worked hard over the past few weeks, and I am very happy with what I have seen, that’s all I can say, there are ups and downs, but he is dealing with the situation well.”
When asked if he thinks that the problems between Barcelona and the Spanish Football Federation should be resolved, Flick replied: “The situation has not changed, we are currently focusing on our team’s journey in the next four weeks, during which we will play 9 matches, and there are many points at stake, this is our mission at the moment, and we should not pay attention to any noise raised.”
Regarding the absence of Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, Flick said: “We trained the way we want to play tomorrow, and we know how to compensate for his absence, I will not reveal that to you, but you will see tomorrow, Frenkie and Pedri are great players and give us confidence, but sometimes we have to deal with the reality if they are absent.”
Hans Flick confirmed that Juan Garcia will return again to guard Barcelona’s goal against Bilbao, adding: “As for Pedri, we will not pressure him, and he will return gradually, and I do not know how possible it is for him to catch up with the match against Chelsea.”
He concluded his statements: “Rashford is suffering from a fever, so he did not participate in training the last two days, and there are doubts about his readiness to face Bilbao, but I am happy with the return of Rafinha, because he leaves a strong impression, and he will be on the bench tomorrow.”
