‘Only Thing Missing’—Lionel Messi Urged to Consider Transfer After Argentina Retirement

Lionel Messi is no longer an Argentina player. He still has two years left on his contract with Inter Miami, but what of a decades-long dream to sign with hometown team Newell’s Old Boys before he quits professional soccer once and for all?

Argentina bade farewell to Messi in Buenos Aires this week, a sold-out friendly against Benin in Buenos Aires that was far more significant than the hastily booked opponent might suggest.

His No. 10 shirt will soon become someone else’s and Messi’s sole focus will be on Inter Miami’s ambitions in Major League Soccer and beyond. No MLS team has won back-to-back championships since the LA Galaxy in 2011 and 2012, but the Herons are in prime position to make the 2026 playoffs in pursuit of retaining last season’s MLS Cup.

Messi is committed to Miami and appears happy with how things are going. He will turn 41 in 2028 when his contract expires. Most players would be long retired by then, but Messi has never been normal. His game has never been built on stamina, but explosive bursts in moments that has surely helped him play to a high level past usual retirement age.

Even aged 41, signing with Newell’s in the future doesn’t seem unrealistic.

Signing With Newell’s Old Boys Would Realize ‘Childhood Dream’

Lionel Messi — Messi played a 2024 friendly against Newell’s Old Boys for Inter Miami. | Rich Storry/Getty Images

Messi said during a 2019 interview with FIFA that it remains a “childhood dream” to “play in the Newell’s shirt.” Still with Barcelona at the time, he admitted not knowing whether it would be possible and explaining that what’s best for his children comes first.

He joined the youth ranks of the club from his home city of Rosario in 1995 and spent five years there before his life changed forever with a 2000 transfer to Barcelona’s La Masia, aged 13.

Messi has therefore never played pro club soccer in his own country, while heading back to Argentina also opens up the Copa Libertadores, which CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez is desperate to see him be a part of.

“There is nothing that compares to it. It is unique, and it is something he deserves to play in. If I were a club president, I would do everything possible to bring him here,” Domínguez told reporters inside Estadio Monumental after Messi’s farewell.

Copa Libertadores Challenge Laid Down

Domínguez even managed to catch up with Messi himself and added, “I think the only thing he's missing is playing in the Copa Libertadores.” Turning to the player, he added, “Do you accept the challenge?” Messi offered no direct response, but the clip of that moment was posted to the president’s Instagram account.

The Libertadores is the ultimate club trophy in South America, equivalent to Europe’s Champions League. Newell’s are not competing in 2026 after a poor 2025 that resulted in a 27th-place finish out of 30 in the year’s aggregate standings. They haven’t won a national title since 2013 and it’s been virtually that long (2014) since they made it into the Libertadores.

If Messi wanted to play in South America’s elite club competition, Newell’s might not be the club to do it with unless there is dramatic improvement in the next couple of years. But Newell’s, rather than the Libertadores, would the driver of any such move in the first place.

Going home is a well-trodden path for South America’s biggest stars who’ve spent years in Europe. It doesn’t always have to be a retirement move, as Luis Suárez can attest to after signing with Nacional back in Uruguay and playing only 14 games before moving on again. Carlos Tevez, meanwhile, had two separate homecomings with Boca Juniors.

Sergio Agüero never got the chance to rejoin Independiente, having left aged 18, forced into early retirement by a heart condition during his time at Barcelona. But, right now, Ángel Di María is contracted to Rosario Central after heading back to his childhood team in 2025.

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