Not sure if I got a return offer?

Hi monkeys,

I am a rising senior graduating in Dec 2021 and I have 2 more weeks of my summer internship left at a LMM boutique investment bank. I had 2 performance reviews in the middle of my internship with both a partner and senior associate that I work directly under. The partner told me that he's really happy with how well I've been doing this summer and said all good things, but never mentioned returning to the firm full time. When I had my performance review with the senior associate, he said all good things about me as well (liked my attitude, flexibility, and output of work), and he informally asked me if I wanted to stay on as a full-time analyst after I graduate. It didn't seem that formal and I am for sure going to leave this internship to go back to school in the fall. My plan is to head back to school in the fall, network and re-recruit for full time analyst opportunities in 2022. All the partners and associates at the firm too said that they're all willing to give the interns booming recommendations because we've done really good work this summer.

The work we've done as summer analysts has been great and I've loved it, but I know for a fact that I won't be coming back full time because of the area that the bank is located in, and the bank knows that I'll be leaving as well. My question is: does this count as a return offer? When I start networking / interviewing with BBs, MMs, or other financial institutions, can I say that I received a return offer?

Even if the answer is no, the firm is willing to give us really good recommendations and speak highly of us so that may help in my favor.