Argentine football playmaker and legend, Juan Roman Riquelme has backed six-time Ballon d'Or winner, Lionel Messi to “win the Champions League with PSG” and retire at Barcelona.
The 34-year old Argentine skipper ended his 21-year-old association with his boyhood club Barcelona last month and made his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) debut during the weekend after signing an $83 million two-year deal with the French club.
While acknowledging the weight of expectations on Messi's shoulders in Paris, Riquelme believes that PSG will never win the Champions League again should they fail to win it with the arrival of Lionel Messi in the team.
On the other hand, the 43-year-old midfielder claimed that Messi hasn't ended his relationship with Barcelona; he is quite sure about his return to Camp Nou in the near future.
“I hope that Messi goes on to enjoy Paris. I don't know if it's strange, but we are all excited to see him enjoy playing with [Kylian] Mbappe and Neymar,” Riquelme told ESPN on Friday.
“If they don't win the Champions League now, they won't win it.”
“I think Messi will win the Champions League with PSG and retire at Barcelona,” he added.
Riquelme could've derived from confident from Ronaldo's return to Manchester United after twelve years thus believing that Messi will return to Barca.
And if Messi does return to Barca, the move will definitely not surprise many in the football world, considering he was on the verge of signing a new deal with the La Liga club.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago
