Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi will have a farewell game at Barcelona's Camp Nou, according to the LaLiga club's sporting director Deco.

Since Messi left Barça as a free agent in August 2021 because of the club's financial crisis, there has been talk of a tribute match to honour the Argentina great.

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"He [Messi] will definitely play a farewell game at Barcelona, but when that will be, we don't know," Deco told Lance .

"He will always be the greatest idol in the club's history. The club had great idols, like [Johan] Cruyff, Ronaldo, but he is perhaps the greatest of all."

Messi, Barça's all-time top scorer, spent 20 years with the Spanish outfit and won 35 trophies during his time there.

Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas said earlier this month that he is open to his team playing a game in Barcelona to allow Messi to bid farewell to his fans.

Barça president Joan Laporta told Catalunya Radio on Thursday that it would be fitting for Messi's farewell game to coincide with the opening of the revamped Spotify Camp Nou stadium.

"It would be fantastic if he could be part of the Spotify Camp Nou re-opening. It will be finished in June 2026 but we will be back in November 2024 and that could also be a good date. We're going to see. We would like it to happen and I hope it does," he said.

Messi, 36, had considered a return to Barça this summer before joining Inter Miami after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired in June.

Deco, who played at Barça with Messi, was not surprised by his former teammate's decision.

"I've been friends with Leo for a long time," Deco said. "The issue of him going to the United States was something that had been planned for a long time. He already mentioned this idea way back. What changed were those two years at PSG..."

Messi found it difficult to adapt to life in Paris and admitted in June that there was a "fracture with a significant group of the PSG fans" during his two seasons at the club.

He was booed and jeered by PSG fans following the team's exits from the Champions League over the past two years.

"I wasn't in the conversations [about Messi's return]," Deco said.

"Obviously, Messi is one of the greatest idols in the club's history. He's happy now and that's what I think he had to look for in his career. About returning to Barcelona, it would have been something spectacular, as he is the greatest player in history, but things ended up happening like this and you can see that he is happy. That's what matters most."

Messi has scored 11 goals and set up five more in 13 appearances for Inter Miami and helped the MLS outfit win the Leagues Cup.

"He is playing, and I hope he plays for more years, because people who like football, who like him, will be happy to see him happy," Deco said.

Information from ESPN's Sam Marsden contributed to this report