Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi has been tipped by British soccer pundit Danny Murphy to become FC Barcelona’s next manager in the summer.

The European giants are currently on the hunt for a new head coach after club legend and former Messi teammate Xavi Hernandez announced he will be stepping down from the role at the end of the season.

Given the size of Barcelona, a number of high-profile names have been linked with the position ranging from departing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta.

Yet speaking on TalkSport, Murphy made the incredible suggestion to give the Barcelona manager job to Messi, with the Argentine constantly linked with a move back to his former club.

Murphy said when asked who Barcelona could consider to replace Xavi at the end of this season: “I’d give it to Messi, I would.

“The fans would be on board with it anyway, everything he touches turns to gold, he was put on this Earth to do amazing things, and it’s not going to stop if he becomes a manager.”

Lionel Messi being appointed Barcelona’s new manager is ludicrous

Messi’s future post-playing is something few soccer fans want to think about, with a game without the Argentine a reality that many of us are still yet to grasp will be happening soon.

Yet to suggest that Messi will leave Inter Miami this year to return to Barcelona as a manager is nothing short of absurd, with the forward only getting started in Florida.

Indeed, the 36-year-old seems ready to take on the world this season with Inter Miami, and pre-season is slowly starting to suggest that Messi will soon be back to his best ahead of the 2024 MLS campaign.