"Best in the world" - Barcelona goalkeeper feels anyone who is against Lionel Messi's return isn't a 'real Culer'
Barcelona youngster Arnau Tenas recently made an interesting claim regarding Lionel Messi's return to the Catalan club. Tenas, who plays as a goalkeeper, claimed that anyone who is against the Argentine's comeback to the Catalan club is not a true culer.
Messi is currently in the final months of his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) contract. The Argentine, who joined PSG in 2021, is yet to agree on a new deal regarding his extension.
There have been widespread rumors linking Lionel Messi with a comeback to Barcelona. 21-year-old Tenas told Catalunya Radio:
“Anyone who thinks that Leo Messi’s return would not be good for the club is not a real culer. He is the best in the world.”
Lionel Messi left Barcelona unceremoniously in 2021 as the Blaugrana were unable to renew his contract due to La Liga's wage cap rules.
He is widely considered as Barca's greatest ever player. In 778 matches, Messi scored 672 goals and provided 303 assists for the Catalan club after coming through the ranks of La Masia.
Ronaldinho endorsed Lionel Messi's return to Barcelona
Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho were teammates at Barcelona and the pair have always shared a great relationship. Ronaldinho, in fact, provided the assist for Messi's first senior goal for Barca.
The Brazilian has now shared his take on Messi potentially returning to the Catalan club. The 2002 FIFA World Cup winner said (via Republic World):
“I’m a friend of Messi’s. I’m very happy for him. It’s very joyful to see friends conquering dreams. That makes me happy. I am his friend. For me, Messi is the best. I would like to see him happy, I don’t care where he is. After all the history he has had with Barcelona, it would be nice if he could finish his career there.”
PSG are working on extending Messi's stay at the Parisian club. The club's president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, recently said (via Daily Mail):
"We are lucky to have some of the best players in the world, who wanted to play for PSG despite receiving offers from other clubs. We are working to keep them going. We are going to analyse what we are doing and make sure we can continue with them; we want to do things accordingly. We are not going to make mistakes."
Considering Barcelona's dire financial situation and their difficulties with the FFP rules, bringing Lionel Messi back could be a difficult operation for them. Whether the Spanish side can execute it remains to be seen.