I would actually love that. We keep saying how we need a more attacking midfielder with creativity and great passing to complement FDJ and Arthur, and no one is thinking Messi could do that? Cause in terms of creativity and great passing, you simply can't do better than Messi. I can only think of one other player who could at least match what Messi does, and that is KDB, who is next to impossible to get. Every other option is worse. And yes, a CM should play a little bit of defense, so in Messi's case his lack of playing defense is a problem, but it's still better than him keep taking up that spot in the attack, and then keep coming back to midfield anyway, as he's basically playing as a CM already for us every game, but because he's technically starting in attack, we then have no one on the wings. And we don't have Dani Alves anymore, who could command that whole right side by himself and even play as a RW at times, when Messi would move to the center (midfield or attack), so we need a real RW. Hopefully Dembele or Trincao can become that.
Moving Messi to midfield can free up that attacking spot for a real winger to come in and wreak havoc in opponents defenses with making frequent runs and taking the defenders's attention away from Messi, who was always gonna be moving to midfield once his pace is gone, why not do it now, when he has a perfect cover in FDJ and Arthur both being more solid defensively and thus covering for him not playing defense.
Need to sell Coutinho (horrible personality and simply no determination to make it here or at any other top club at this point, kinda like Arda when we bought him). And buy a new exciting winger (or give Trincao a real chance next year) and get him in there alongside Dembele, if he can hopefully stay fit, with Ansu there as cover. Or if we go another way, since we also need a new permanent '9' (and we probably can't afford to get a winger and a 9 in the same year), get that this summer, and put both Dembele and Fati together on the wings for next season, Dembele on the right, and Fati on the left, with Trincao as cover for Dembele. And if he doesn't stay fit next year too, then cut our losses with him on election year, and give the starting RW spot to Trincao, or if even he doesn't work out, we at least wait for the new Board to bring in a replacement winger of their choice that summer, if while also giving more responsibility to Fati, as he'll also be 19 and could be ready to take over the starting spot on the left permanently by that time. This is why we should've kept Malcom, he was the perfect yin to Dembele's yang, a different winger, who would be getting loads of playing time now that Dembele is out, and we'd only need a new 9, not a new winger too. And yes, we're getting Trincao now, and he does look solid and he can hopefully make that RW spot his own in a few years, if Dembele can't stay fit, but I still would've liked to see Malcom still here, as he also had that great personality and you could see he really loved the club and playing here, and he could've been our new Pedro, explosive pace with helping defenders and covering for Messi's lack of defending, and we'd have an actual existing threat on RW. Well, hopefully Dembele/Trincao can become that now.