Balague: Messi 'doesn't want' Barcelona return as PSG deal 'virtually completely on board'

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague claims Lionel Messi has no intention of returning to Barcelona and will soon sign a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar earlier this month with Lionel Scaloni's side beating France on penalties in the final.

But attention has turned to Messi's future with the Barcelona legend clearly capable of performing at the highest level after a slightly disappointing spell at PSG.

There have been rumors that Messi could leave the French capital and return to Barcelona with his contract expiring at the end of June.

Barca president Joan Laporta kept his cards close to his chest when asked about a potential interest in Messi and seemed to pour cold water on the rumours.

"About Messi, we cannot generate expectations," Laporta told Barca TV. "Messi is a PSG player and has a contract with them.

“He won the World Cup and the Cules are very happy. What I don't want to do is generate expectations which are currently very difficult.

"For us he is the best player ever, we had him here and I am convinced that at his heart he is a Culé and will always be linked to Barça.

"Whether or not he comes back as a player, at the moment he is at PSG and we would very much like him to come back one day, but we will see."

And Balague insists that Barcelona have not made any approach to bring Messi back to Camp Nou and that PSG are close to agreeing a new deal.

"Everything is pretty much okay with PSG," Balague told BBC Sport. "Barcelona haven't approached him or his father to offer him anything.

"So it's not that Messi doesn't want to return to Barcelona. We didn't ask him.

"Messi is happy with all of this and when he returns from vacation, the deal will speed up.

"His life in Paris is balanced, happy, everyone is having fun and he has a real possibility of winning the Champions League again. In addition, it will help him to be a candidate for the Ballon d'Or again."

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney, who played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, recently declared Messi the greatest of all time in his eyes.

On why Messi is so difficult to face, Rooney revealed to The Times: "You want to go and press him but know that if you do, you're not going to win the ball. There are times when you can tackle him, like when he's dribbling directly at you, but usually you're just not going to dispossess him. You're bigger than him but you can't use your power against him.

"One difference between Messi and almost all the other players who dribble is that he is always moving. There is almost never a moment when he stops on the ball. He takes off with and if his path is blocked, he will pass the ball to collect it. You will press and he turns it off, then you can turn it off and at that moment he comes to life.

"You see it a lot: he passes, the defender gets lazy for a split second, and Messi takes the return pass and is out. And it takes so much to deal with him that it's tiring. It wears you down until it becomes nearly unstoppable."

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