Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is on the verge of officially becoming a Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) player, with the former Barcelona star now in Paris to sign a two-year deal.
The Argentine superstar, who leaves a cash-strapped Barcelona after over 20 years with the club, will earn a whopping £1million per week, as he joins former team-mate Neymar at his new club.
Messi boarded the aircraft as hundreds of fans waited for him at the Bourget airport in France and at PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium. The Bombardier Global 7500 touched down in France just after 3:30 pm local time yesterday (10:30 am ET).
Messi, wearing a shirt that read “This is Paris,” waved to fans upon his arrival.
Messi’s father, Jorge, who acts as the player’s agent, was asked by reporters at Barcelona’s El Prat airport if his son will sign for PSG.
“Yes,” he replied.
Asked who was at fault for Messi leaving Barcelona, Jorge Messi said: “Find out at the club.”
Sources have told ESPN that PSG’s contract offer for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner will see him earn more than PSG and Brazil star Neymar, Messi’s former teammate at Barca. Sources added Messi will stay at Hotel Le Royal Monceau, the same location Neymar stayed when he completed his world-record €222m move to PSG in 2017.
Messi’s contract with Barca expired on June 30, and despite attempts to keep the club’s all-time leading scorer, the deal could not be completed due to financial constraints.
A tearful Messi said at a news conference on Sunday that he had wanted to remain at Barca and agreed to a 50% wage cut, but the club had no room to manoeuvre because of their failure to offload other players in time and reduce their high wage bill.