Lionel Messi completes move to Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal after leaving Barcelona
It’s done! Lionel Messi completes his sensational move to PSG on a two-year deal worth £1MILLION A WEEK… insisting ‘everything about the club matches my football ambitions’ as he takes No 30 shirt – his first number as a teenager at Barcelona!
Lionel Messi has been announced as a Paris Saint-Germain player at the Parc des Princes after signing a two-year deal worth a staggering £35million a season.
The 34-year-old landed at Le Bourget airport on Tuesday afternoon and was greeted by hordes of PSG fans who had been camped out since early morning to welcome the player they, and the rest of Europe, had believed would see out his career at Barcelona.
Waving to his new supporters and wearing a Paris T-shirt, the Argentine looked ecstatic just two days after the tears over his Barcelona farewell.
Lionel Messi holds the Paris Saint-Germain shirt after completing his move to the French side from former club Barcelona
Moments before the announcement, PSG teased a trailer showing him in the centre circle in a video preview clip on Twitter
Messi had been spotted earlier in the day wearing the PSG kit and will have the No 30 shirt he first wore while at Barcelona
His capture completes an incredible summer for PSG in which they have signed the captains of Barcelona and Real Madrid on free transfers.
They have assembled one of the most expensive forward lines ever with Messi agreeing a deal worth only slightly less than Neymar’s estimated £37m yearly contract.
Kylian Mbappe completes PSG’s all-star front three, although he is now in the last year of his deal, having turned down three attempts by the French club to renew it, and is holding out for a free transfer to Real Madrid next summer.
Messi said last night: ‘I am excited to begin a new chapter of my career at Paris Saint-Germain. Everything about the club matches my football ambitions. I am determined to help build something special for the club and the fans.’
Messi prepares to put pen to paper on his Paris Saint-Germain contract sat alongside club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi
Wearing the training apparel of his new club, Messi goes through a standard medical as he gives a cheerful thumbs up
The Argentine is put through his paces during his medical ahead of completing his move to the Parc des Princes
Messi mania has already gripped PSG supporters, with the club shop selling out of the forward’s replica top just minutes after his confirmation was announced on Tuesday evening.
It remains to be seen what Messi’s arrival does for Mbappe’s willingness to stay and PSG’s ability to keep him without making a mockery of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules.
Messi has not trained since winning the Copa America with Argentina last month, so he may have to wait until the game at Reims on August 29 for his debut. He will wear the No 30 shirt he wore on his Barcelona debut 16 seasons ago.
Lionel Messi waves to the gathered fans after arriving in Paris on Tuesday wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Ici c’est Paris’ – which translates to ‘Here is Paris’ and is widely used on PSG merchandise and branding
Messi passed his medical at the American Hospital in Paris and waved at the crowds wearing a PSG face mask, before signing a two-year deal with an option for an extra season.
Barcelona have spent the four years since PSG paid Neymar’s £198m buyout clause trying to buy him back, and two summers ago they flew to Paris in a failed attempt to re-sign him.
Messi became a free agent this summer after his original contract with Barcelona expired, but he was expected to re-sign with the club following positive initial talks between all parties.
Lionel Messi was all smiles on a private jet alongside wife Antonella as they boarded a flight to Paris to sign a deal with PSG
Messi, pictured at the airport on Tuesday, has agreed a two-year contract to move to France as leaves LaLiga
Messi shared a hug prior to going through airport security as he said his final goodbyes before jetting off to sign his PSG deal
Yet due to LaLiga‘s financial regulations, the 34-year-old superstar was unable to sign and now moves to the Parc des Princes to play under fellow Rosario native Mauricio Pochettino.
Messi was pictured alongside four PSG players – Neymar, Angel Di Maria, Marco Verratti and Leandro Paredes – at a dinner in Ibiza 24 hours before Barcelona confirmed he was leaving.
The 34-year-old played it down as a ‘coincidence’ in his departing press conference but he will now join forces with the quartet in Paris.
‘Coincidence? Completely. I met them in Ibiza, we met them one day, got together and we’re friends,’ Messi explained. ‘I was going to meet Paredes and Di Maria. Ney called me and said “do you want to see me?”
‘We uploaded the photo in that moment because we were having a good time and there was a joke at the time, they kept telling me “come to Paris, come to Paris”.
Lionel Messi leaves Barcelona after 21 years of his football career after agreeing a two-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain
Messi will work under coach and compatriot and former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino (left) at the Parc des Princes
Neymar played with Messi at Barcelona and had remained in contact with his Copa America nemesis after leaving for Paris
Messi was left in tears last Sunday at his farewell press conference as he revealed he was leaving against his wishes.
Having agreed to a 50 per cent pay cut, Messi was adamant he did all he could to allow Barcelona the chance to strike a deal.
Spanish employment law rules out options such as playing for free.
‘There’s nothing more to tell,’ Messi said.
‘Anything else, I can’t say. What’s clear is that I did everything possible; the club, Laporta, they couldn’t do it because of LaLiga.
‘I’ve heard a lot of things said about me, that I didn’t want to continue, but on my behalf, we did everything we could because I wanted to stay.’
Messi joined Barcelona as a 15-year-old and went on to make his senior debut in 2004 at just 16 years old, featuring 778 times for the club in total across his 21-year-career.
During that time Messi became Barcelona’s record scorer with 672 goals including 120 Champions League goals and a record 474 LaLiga goals.
He also managed 10 LaLiga titles, four Champions Leagues and seven Copa del Reys.
Messi’s individual contribution also saw him claim the European Golden Shoe award for the continent’s top scorer on six occasions.
The 34-year-old was in Ibiza with the club’s big names including Neymar, Angel Di Maria, Marco Verratti and Leandro Paredes
Messi’s father, Jorge, (right) was central to the negotiations on behalf of his son’s PSG switch after 21 years in Spain
Messi’s with his six Ballons d’Or – he also won four Champions Leagues during a trophy laden career at the Nou Camp
Messi looked devastated as he spoke to the media and his team-mates at the Nou Camp prior to his departure
President Joan Laporta had reportedly made Messi a priority this summer and was focused on signing the Argentine until 2026.
The forward was prepared to take a 50 per cent pay deduction from his previous deal – which was worth more than £425million over four years – to adhere to LaLiga’s financial fair play rules.
This would have seen Messi’s earnings slashed by £250,000-a-week on the proposed new five-year contract. However, the 34-year-old was said to be happy to take the hit if it meant he was able to re-register as a Barcelona player with LaLiga.
But it proved unworkable and Laporta refused to blame Messi for his departure, with the Barcelona supremo insisting the Argentinean made it easier for the club to extend his deal – but the club were not able to extend his contract and keep the club within LaLiga’s salary rules.
An emotional Laporta told his press conference last Friday: ‘The base of everything is the previous administration’s disastrous management which we inherited.
‘Some decisions might even have been criminal. I’m not talking about signings. Some are hard to understand. They must have been under pressure but it led to this situation now.’
The Spanish top-flight club announced a debt of €1billion in February of this year, a few months after Josep Bartomeu resigned from his role as president.
Barcelona shared a bombshell statement on Thursday evening saying the 34-year-old would not be staying at the club due to financial restrictions placed upon them by LaLiga
He went on to make his senior debut in 2004 at just 16 years old and featured 778 times, emerging as a key player
Messi became Barca’s record scorer with 672 goals including 120 Champions League goals and a record 474 LaLiga goals
Messi’s father Jorge travelled to Barcelona to meet with the club’s officials to close the deal and sign the new contract but was left stunned when, at a dinner, he was told a new deal was not possible.
The divorce with Barcelona has been an emotional one, so much so that a lawyer working on behalf of the Spanish club’s loyal section of supporters filed a complaint to the European Court of Appeals, stating the Parisians should be stopped in their pursuit of Messi based on financial data.
Juan Branco confirmed the complaint on Twitter on Sunday night by tweeting a statement that read: ‘In the name of the ‘socios’ of Barcelona, my firm has prepared a complaint with the European Commission and demands for provisional suspension before civil and administrative courts in France to prevent Paris-Saint Germain from signing Lionel Messi.
‘PSG’s ratios in terms of “Financial Fair Play” are worse than those of FC Barcelona.
‘In 2019-2020, PSG’s salary-to-income ratio was 99%, while Barcelona’s was 54%. Meanwhile, the difference has increased.
‘It is inconceivable that the “Financial Fair Play” serves to aggravate the drifts of football-business, the instrumentalization of football by sovereign powers, and the distortion of competitions.’
Manager Ronald Koeman says it is ‘still hard to understand’ that Messi has left Barcelona, with the baffled Dutchman taking to Twitter to wish the Argentine well following his shock departure.
In a document posted by Juan Branco, he confirmed ‘socios’ were looking to stop the move but to no avail
Messi (in mask bottom left) joined Barca’s famous La Masia academy from Argentine side Newell’s Old Boys in 2000
Messi had been left ‘shocked’ and ‘dejected’ by Barcelona’s inability to renew his contract due to financial constraints
‘Still hard to understand that you will not play for @FCBarcelona anymore,’ the former Everton and Southampton manager wrote on Twitter.
‘Thanks for everything you have done for our club Leo. I really enjoyed the full season we worked together. I am impressed with your work ethic and desire to win.
‘It makes you the best player in the world. For now, I wish you and your family the best! #ForcaBarca’.
In their statement, Barcelona cited ‘financial and structural obstacles’ as their inability to secure his signature for the next five years.
A statement on their official website read: ‘Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles [Spanish LaLiga regulations].
‘FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.’
