Barcelona: Dani Alves claims Lionel Messi is ‘rattled’ at PSG

The Barcelona defender urges his former teammate to make a sensational return to Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi ended his 21-year spell at Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain last summer. Despite publicly admitting he wanted to stay at the Catalan club, the Blaugrana were not able to renew his contract amid their financial problems.

At PSG, Messi has reunited with his ex-Barcelona teammate Neymar. However, his overall form has been way below what he offered at Barcelona.

PSG fans booed Messi and Neymar after the Parisians’ Champions League exit last week, reinforcing rumours around Messi’s potential departure from the club.

Dani Alves, who returned to Barcelona on a free deal this winter, has urged the Argentine icon to do the same.

“For me, no, he’s not enjoying it,” Alves told ESPN (via 90min). “Leo makes this game special and he does it when he feels right. When that’s the case, others benefit from it too. In my opinion, he’s rattled over there. Leo was living in the best place in the world to do what he loves.

“Leo always said to me, where would you rather be than [at Barcelona]? I can verify, there is no better place than here. When we knew he was leaving, I sent him the same message he sent me.”

He added: “I hope he comes back. I hope he comes with me here to take advantage of all this again. Everyone who leaves here regrets it. Everyone. Some say they don’t because they don’t like to lose, but everyone who leaves regrets it. Because they won’t be better off anywhere than here.”