Lionel Messi will stay at Paris Saint Germain for at least another season despite being subjected to boos by the fans of the club.
Recall that Lionel Messi decided to join PSG on a free transfer after his age-long club, FC Barcelona failed to extend his contract due to the financial crisis the club was facing then.
His arrival at PSG created the most talked-about front three last summer. Most football enthusiasts thought the combination of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar Junior would make PSG unstoppable. But that has not been the case so far.
Though they have been confirmed winners of the French Ligue 1 for the 10th time in the history of the club, the club’s fans are not excited about the performance of the team in the 2021-2022 season.
PSG’s main goal is to win the UEFA Champions League title for the first time in the 51 years old history of the club. Due to this, the French club has invested heavily in the recruitment of players and their wages.
Despite that, the best they have gotten from the tournament was a UEFA Champions League final in 2020 which they lost to Bayern Munich. Hence, the arrival of the likes of Lionel Messi from Barca, and Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid last summer was expected to be an extra boost to help the club achieve its goal this season.
Unfortunately, PSG ended their journey in the tournament in the round of 16 stage of the competition thanks to a 3-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.
Since the Spanish club knock out PSG, the fans of the French club have been booing the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar for not doing enough to help the club go beyond the round of 16.
Hence, it was suspected that Lionel Messi who is regarded as the greatest player of all time by many football analysts, would exit PSG in protest of the humiliating boos from the club. But reports from the club’s camp confirmed that PSG are not considering his exit from the club.
What are the contract details of Lionel Messi at PSG and his stats at the club:
Lionel Messi joined PSG on a free transfer on August 10, 2021, after spending over 16 years of his professional football career at FC Barcelona.
Messi signed a two-year deal with PSG with an option for a one-year extension. According to reports, Lionel Messi earns around €729,000 per week as a PSG player. This means that Messi earns €104,000 a day or €8,680 per hour or €144.68 per minute or €2.41 per second at PSG. The contract will officially expire on June 30, 2023.
Since he joined PSG in August 2021 to date, Lionel Messi has played 30 games in all competitions for the club in which he scored 9 goals and provided 13 assists in all competitions.
The 34-year-old record seven-time Ballon d’Or winner managed to contribute 4 league goals and provided 13 assists in 22 French Ligue 1 games before the club was confirmed champions of the league this season.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino and director Leonardo might be kicked out of PSG
Lionel Messi has gotten the backing to remain at PSG for at least another season but the futures of coach Mauricio Pochettino and the club’s director Leonardo are not certain yet.
Though coach Pochettino helped PSG to win their 10th title this season, the club’s board and fans are not happy with his performance in the UEFA Champions League campaign.
Recall that the Argentine coach failed to win the league last season. Immediately after that, there were reports that he would be sacked. However, he remained at the club to date.
Amid that, he was linked to a return to his former club, Tottenham Hotspur but that didn’t happen. He was also linked to the coaching job at Manchester United this season. He was even interviewed for the job but the club ended up appointing Ajax coach, Erik ten Hag ahead of him.
Recently, reports claimed that PSG are considering the coach of Tottenham Hotspur, Antonio Conte, as the ideal replacement for Pochettino. Hence, if PSG can convince Conte to join the French club ahead of the 2022-2023 season, Pochettino would be sacked.
Also, director Leonardo who has admitted that he made some mistakes in the kind of players he recruited at the club could be asked to go ahead of next season except the French club does not get a suitable replacement for him this summer.
