Barcelona dealt hammer blow in race to re-sign PSG superstar Lionel Messi: Reports

Barcelona have reportedly suffered a setback in their quest to bring back Lionel Messi as La Liga have rejected their feasibility plans. The league want all clubs to follow the rules strictly and are not willing to give any side extra leeway.

As per a report in SPORT, Barcelona have failed to convince La Liga that their feasibility plan will help the club get within the league limits soon. Javier Tebas and Co. want the Catalan side to cut costs by around €200 million. However, some reports suggest the figures could go as high as €350 million, including wages.

Rafael Yuste, Barcelona's vice president, confirmed last month that the club were in talks with La Liga and said:

"There are two months left in which we can work with [Javier] Tebas and present him with the viability, cash flow and income plan."

Tebas has suggested that the Spanish giants will only be allowed to spend 25% of what they raise in the summer. He wants them to sell players and reduce their wage bill before registering the new contracts of Gavi and Ronald Araujo and signing new players.

Barcelona confirm talks with Lionel Messi

Barcelona's vice-president Rafael Yuste has confirmed that they are in talks with Lionel Messi over a return to Camp Nou. He believes that they can find a way to sign the forward, but is not sure how much time they would need.

He told the media vis SPORT:

"We are in contact with Messi and we would love him to come back. Leo and his family know how fond we are of them. I was involved in the negotiations that unfortunately didn't come to fruition at the time. Of course, I would love to see him return and I am sure many fans share my sentiments. I believe that stories in life have to end well and that's why we have contact with Messi, of course."

He added:

"I think it's the most natural thing to do. When you are in love with a person you lose contact but you want to stay in love. And I think Leo is also in love with Barça and the city of Barcelona. I think destiny will make it possible. Let's see if we can have Leo back at Barcelona."

Lionel Messi's contract at PSG expires in the summer and he has reportedly stalled contract talks with the Ligue 1 side.