Messi can give the Barca squad a face-lift in the following areas.
Goals
Messi will most likely improve Barca’s individual and collective goal stat. Xavi has helped Barca find their scoring mojo lately, with 4+ goals scored in their last 4 league games. However, Memphis Depay, with just 10 goals, remains Barca’s top scorer.
Despite the Blaugrana’s struggles last season, Messi still won the Pichichi after scoring 30 goals in 35 games. From what it looks like, that award won’t go to a Barca player this year.
Assists
Ousmane Dembele recently equalled Jordi Alba’s 7 Liga assists for Barcelona. However, both players are still behind the likes of Karim Benzema (11) and Oscar Trejo in La Liga’s top assists ranking.
Messi registered 11 assists last season, and has already equalled that tally for PSG. You get the feeling he’d be leading Barca and even La Liga assist chart if he was in Spain.
Set piece goals
Barcelona have only scored 6 goals from set-pieces this season. In fact, no Barca player have scored directly from a free-kick this term.
That narrative is likely to change if Messi were in the team. Barca will be more deadly from direct free-kicks, with a player who’s scored 58 free-kicks standing over the ball.
