Lionel Messi confirmed his second trip to India last week. The global superstar, though, could be in for a surprise when he reaches Calcutta on December 13.

The Inter Miami player may just find his former Barcelona teammates, Neymar and Luis Suarez, at the programmes scheduled at the Salt Lake Stadium.

The venue will soon be getting ready to host Messi for a second time. The World Cup-winning captain first came here in 2011, leading Argentina in an international friendly against Venezuela on September 2. This time around, the organisers are trying their best to turn the visit into a “Barca reunion”.

“Discussions are still on as we’re putting in all our efforts to get Neymar and Suarez so that it turns out to be one kind of a Barca reunion.
Even Messi doesn’t know about this, as we plan to give him a surprise.

“We want Calcutta to have a feel of ‘MSN (Messi, Suarez and Neymar)’,” a source privy to the developments told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

The trio played together in Barcelona in the La Liga for three years from 2014, when Suarez arrived from Liverpool, till 2017, when Neymar left for Paris Saint-Germain.

If the arrival of Brazil’s Neymar and Uruguay’s all-time leading goal-scorer Suarez materialises, it will only be for the Calcutta leg of Messi’s India visit.

Ticket sales will begin on Thursday, with prices starting from ₹3,850.

Football fans could be in for more treats, as efforts are also on to bring former Brazil defender Dani Alves and Portugal attacking midfielder Deco, both former Barcelona players. “We’re trying to bring Alves and Deco too. Let’s see how things transpire,” the source added.

After his set of events in Calcutta, Messi will move on to Wankhede and the Kotla for more programmes on December 14 and 15, in Mumbai and Delhi, respectively. In New Delhi, the organisers will also try to have India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill on the same stage as Messi.