Having been out of action since Argentina’s victorious Copa America 2024 final against Colombia in July, Lionel Messi is edging closer towards a return to competitive football. According to media reports, the Argentine was seen training next to his Inter Miami teammates, which led to speculation about his return.

The former Barcelona star was left in pain during the second-half of the Copa America final, and had to depart the field with both teams level at 0-0. He was seen in tears and later Lautaro Martinez scored the winner in a 1-0 win in extra-time.

Due to his ankle ligament injury in that match, Messi has been ruled out of action since then. He also wasn’t named in the matchday squads for Inter Miami and was left out of the roster for Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers vs Chile and Colombia.

Earlier, Miami head coach Tata Martino even gave an update on Messi’s return. Speaking to the media, he said, “He is developing well, it was foreseeable that he would not be with Argentina because he is not yet in a position to play, but we continue to see him develop. There is no estimate, because you are already starting to see how you feel as you add training on the field.”

“The work is planned by the medical part with the physical trainers. But yes, he returns before the end of the regular season.”

“I wouldn’t be able to give an approximate number of days that he returns to training but it is not a situation that is too far away. There is a part of the injuries that have to do with the physical and there is a part of the injuries that has to do with the mental, so we have to overcome them both ways and I think that he is going through that process.

“He is feeling better and better, he has been working in the field for three or four days now. We cannot give time because we do not know and it would be speculating about something that may not be possible to do, but it is close.”