Newell's Old Boys vice-president convinced Lionel Messi will return to boyhood club after 2018 World Cup
Barcelona superstar and arguably the best player to ever play the game of football, Lionel Messi could return to his boyhood club Newell's Old Boys after the 2018 World Cup according to the the club’s vice president Cristian D'Amico. Messi was at Newell’s as a boy before moving to Barcelona’s La Masia academy where he developed into a footballing great.
Messi who is Barcelona’s and Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer has been linked with a move to his boyhood club several times in the past, and now D'Amico has again spoken about the possibility of his return and hopes it will happen.
The Argentine side’s vice president D’Amico said, "I am convinced, like many of my peers, that we can make history as a club if we get the best player in the world in a Newell's shirt,"
He also added that he expects to bag Messi before he retires, "I think we're going to get the pleasure of Messi wearing the shirt."
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According to D’Amico, Messi would have a huge impact at the club, not just on the field but off it as well if he were to return. "Imagine a game with Messi in the Coloso [Estadio Marcelo Bielsa], with the press around the world, the sponsors who would come... that would make a difference economically, apart from the sentimental value, and could make a big difference to clean up the debts,” he said.
Lionel Messi made 5 appearances for the Rosario club way back when he was aged just 12 before he moved to Barca’s academy and has enjoyed immense success since then. He has won 5 Ballons D’Or as well as several other individual accolades.
The 29-year-old recently announced his retirement from international football after a heartbreaking Copa America campaign in which Argentina finished runners-up behind Chile but he has since reconsidered his decision and revealed his desire to play in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Interestingly enough, if Messi does decide to make a return to Newell’s, he could join his son who has also been registered at the Argentinian side. Thiago Messi was signed up by the club and registered to play immediately after his birth in 2012.