Messi denies Barcelona link-up rumours

Lionel Messi's return to Barcelona will not be possible. The striker took it upon himself to deny rumours of his departure from Inter Miami on loan despite being rumoured about a possible move to his boyhood club.

If an MLS team doesn't qualify for the playoffs, players can be loaned for six months to another team, as did Thierry Henry, who played for New York RB and went on loan to Arsenal, and David Beckham, who returned to AC Milan on loan from LA Galaxy.

However, Messi is not considering returning to La Liga even for six months. The 36-year-old was asked about his future after Argentina's 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Peru.

"It's a shame [we didn't qualify]. I missed the last few games, we had several injuries. The month of July was very hard for us, we played every three days, we travelled," he said.