Lionel Messi Next Club Odds: Barcelona or Manchester City loan deal on the cards
Following Inter Miami’s failure to make the MLS playoffs, rumours are floating around that Lionel Messi will be seeking a loan move to a European club. Since Inter Miami haven’t made the playoffs they will be out of action until February which is four months away. Lionel Messi has been in fine form in America and I imagine he’ll be itching to get back on the pitch straight away.
Below we’ll take a look at what betting sites make of the current rumours and speak through the odds for his next club before February.
Barcelona: 3/1
Barcelona come in as the favourites to sign Lionel Messi on a loan move before February 3rd. Rumours around Twitter are following Messi's failure to make playoffs he's seeking a move to his old club on loan before the MLS season starts.
If Messi stays at Inter Miami he has a cushty four-month holiday but I wonder if his competitive nature will get the better of him. Messi never wanted to leave Barcelona in the first place and was in tears when it came time to say goodbye. Messi is probably dreaming of a return to Barcelona and even if it’s only a loan move, it’d be a dream homecoming for their best-ever player.
Inter Miami apparently are willing to respect his wishes to rejoin Barcelona on a loan deal providing he makes it back in time for the rest of the MLS but these are just rumours at the moment. It’d be a difficult move to pull off but if Messi wants Barcelona, I’m sure they’ll happily take him back on loan.
Man City: 20/1
Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola, a match made in heaven. If the betting sites were anything to go off Lionel Messi was incredibly close to joining Manchester City before he went to Inter Miami. He was backed into the 1/6 mark to join the blue side of Manchester and it would have been an incredible sight seeing Guardiola manage a team consisting of Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi.
This is not really a signing that Manchester City normally make but with things looking slightly alarming for City, it could make a bit of sense. Kevin de Bruyne is still sidelined for a while and I’m sure Lionel Messi can fit that creative role that they’re missing at the moment and with him still being bang in form, he could give City the lift they need to get back to the top of the Premier League.
Others
There really aren’t many rumours at the moment apart from a potential move to Barcelona on loan for Messi. He’s priced at 25/1 to join a number of clubs like Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Juventus and Bayern Munich. There’s a reason he’s such a big price to join them and I think he’d honestly rather just have some time off than join those as he has no connection to these clubs. It’s still a big ask for him to take a loan move somewhere but if it does happen, Barcelona look the most likely.