The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, has urged Messi to return to boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner is looking to leave Barcelona this summer after 20 years and a glut of major silverware having sent shockwaves around the world of football last week by formally requesting a transfer from Camp Nou.
Manchester City – who have the financial means to pull off such a high-profile deal – are widely considered as the front-runners to land Messi, with Pep Guardiola having previously coached the 33-year-old in Catalonia and former Barca duo Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain also now working at Etihad Stadium.
Messi – who did not report for pre-season medical testing on Sunday – has been at Barca since the age of 13, spending his entire senior career in Spain and never getting the chance to compete at senior level in Argentina.
Mr Fernandez has now called on one of the country’s most famous sons to remedy that and return to Newell’s Old Boys, where he played as a youngster before making the move to Europe.
“You are in our hearts and we have never seen you play in our country,” the Argentine President said via news channel C5N.