Lionel Messi could sign a two-year deal with French Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint Germain anytime from now as the club seemed to be the only major club pushing for the signature of the 34-year-old football icon.
Reports claimed that PSG believe that they can afford to offer Lionel Messi a two-year deal that would earn the Argentine football icon £50 million in two years without breaching UEFA’s financial fair play rule.
Recall that the world of football received a shock of the century when FC Barcelona announced that Lionel Messi would no longer stay at the club in a week in which the club’s fans were expecting the club to announce a new deal with the football star.
Messi’s contract with FC Barcelona expired on June 30, 2021, for the first time since 2003 when he made his senior debut at the club. Before then, the club was trying to offer him a new contract but the financial situation of the club made the deal difficult to scale through.
After a series of back and forth, it became clear to Spanish La Liga that the club would not have the financial capacity to extend the footballer’s contract, hence, the league body stopped the proposed deal Barcelona was trying to forge for the Argentine icon.
A day after Lionel Messi failed to extend his contract with his childhood club, PSG reportedly initiated action to ensure that they bring the 6-times balloon d’Or winner to France.
Reports in France and Spain claimed that PSG are willing to offer him a two-year contract which will earn him £25 million per year. An option of a further extension would be inserted in the purported deal.
If the deal scales through, Lionel Messi would be the fourth out of contract football icon that the French Ligue 1 signed this summer. Recall that the Qatari-owned club brought out of contract superstars like Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos, and Georginio Wijnaldum to the club for free this summer.
If Messi crossed to France, it would be the first time in his football career he would play in another club after over 21 years in the game. It would also be the first time he would play in the same team with former Real Madrid star, Sergio Ramos who Messi has played against for over 17 years.
Aside from the free transfers PSG had executed so far this summer, they signed Achraf Hakimi from Inter Milan this summer for €60 million.
If they manage to bring in Messi the club’s yearly wage bill will claim to over €438 million and keep them on the top spot as the highest spenders in Ligue 1 ahead of second-placed Lyon that spend €132 million on wages per year.
If PSG can seal Messi’s deal, it could be a factor that could make Kylian Mbappe stay at the club beyond next summer. The club and the Frenchman have been going back and forth over a new deal with a season left on his current contract with the club.
As for the language barrier, Messi would have no problem since his countryman, Mauricio Pochettino is the head coach of the club. He would also have Neymar to rely on when he finds it difficult to cope in Paris.
Paris Saint-Germain are close to sign Leo Messi, confirmed. PSG are preparing the official contract until June 2023 to be submitted to Messi and his father Jorge in the next hours 🚨🇦🇷 #Messi
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 6, 2021
Messi’s open to join PSG. Neymar was pushing in the last 24h. PSG are so, so confident. pic.twitter.com/WNRYJKCkjs
