Thierry Henry urges Lionel Messi to return to Barcelona 'for the love of football' after 'embarrassing' incident

Thierry Henry thinks former teammate Lionel Messi should return to Barcelona "for the love of football" after he was booed by Paris Saint-Germain fans ahead of their Ligue 1 clash against Lyon.

Messi has been strongly linked with a return to his old stomping ground of late. In fact, Barcelona’s vice president Rafael Yuste recently claimed they have made contact with the Argentine and his representatives.

The 35-year-old future remains in the air with his PSG contract set to expire at the end of the season.

And with rumours surrounding his future continuing to swirl, some fans inside the Parc des Princes decided to jeer Messi when the stadium announcer read out his name ahead of kick-off.

Moments after the incident, Messi's former Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry reacted to the scenes while on punditry duty for Amazon Prime Video.

Henry, who said it was "embarrassing" to hear whistles from the stadium, urged the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner to pack his bags and return to the Camp Nou.

“You can’t whistle one of the best players on the team, who has 13 goals and 13 assists this season," he said.

"Personally, I would like to see him finish his career at Barcelona, in Europe. After that, I don’t know what he will do. Because the way he left Barcelona after everything he did… I didn’t really like it.

"For the love of football, he should go back to Barcelona."

"Pour l’amour du foot et parce qu’il est pas parti comme il aurait dû."

🔵🔴 Thierry Henry souhaite voir Lionel Messi finir sa carrière à Barcelone❗️#PSGOL pic.twitter.com/YPRD6JVD0Q

— Prime Video Sport France (@PVSportFR) April 2, 2023

Messi, who scored 672 goals in 778 appearances for boyhood club Barca, left the Camp Nou on a free transfer in the summer of 2021.

He even agreed to take a 50 per cent pay cut to commit his long-term future to the Spanish club but the contract agreement was dashed when La Liga’s financial rules on player registration came into play.

After years of overspending and the financial ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catalan giants simply could not afford to hand Messi a new deal.

But as mentioned earlier, Barcelona are currently 'in contact' with the Paris Saint-Germain forward about a possible return.

📸 | Leo Messi gifting his shirt to his former FC Barcelona teammate Ludovic Giuly at half time vs Lyon

🐐❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/SIwovnsRxa

— PSG Chief (@psg_chief) April 3, 2023

Barcelona’s vice president Rafael Yuste said they have been in touch with Messi and his representatives. “Leo and his family know the affection I have for them," he said.

“I participated in the negotiations which unfortunately did not lead to a certain result. I’ve always had and I have this thorn in my side that Leo couldn’t continue at our club.

“Messi knows how much we appreciate him. I would love for him to come back. We’re in contact, of course, with them.”

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