The deal to sign the 34-year-old Argentine is a major coup for wealthy PSG, who will add one of the best football players of all time to an already formidable front line that includes Brazil’s Neymar and young Frenchman Kylian Mbappe.
Wearing a T-shirt that read “This is Paris,” Messi waved and waved to fans who were to welcome him at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of the French capital after his flight from Barcelona. had come.
The fans rejoiced and burst crackers with the slogan “Messi, Messi, Messi”.
“It’s going to be crazy. After all, it’s a legend that’s coming,” said Florent Chauveau, a PSG fan who has been back and forth at the airport every day since Sunday in anticipation of Messi’s arrival.
(AFP photo)
Messi gave no details of the deal, which was reached days after Barcelona said it could not afford to keep the midfielder because of Spain’s La Liga’s fair play rules.
But his father, speaking to reporters at Barcelona airport, confirmed reports from French newspaper L’Equipe and Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo that Messi had struck a deal with PSG, which is owned by Qatar Sports Investment.
L’Equipe said the deal would be for two years. It also said Messi would undergo a medical test on Tuesday, and a news conference to mark his arrival is likely on Wednesday.
PSG did not comment on the reports, but released a short video showing scenes of Paris, a plane landing and a close-up of someone putting pen to paper. In the background, upbeat music can be heard and the words “new diamond in Paris” and “mercato update” appear.
The video, seen on Twitter, does not show Messi, but shows an image of the six Ballon d’Or – an annual award given by the Eiffel Tower to the player deemed the best in the world.
Many Barcelona fans were distraught at the end of Messi’s illustrious, trophy-laden career at the club he had joined as a schoolboy.
But the arrival of Barcelona’s all-time record scorer with 682 goals will boost PSG’s ambition to win the Champions League for the first time. Messi won four Champions League titles while at Barcelona, as well as 10 La Liga titles.
PSG Ambitions
Messi is the latest big-name arrival at PSG on a free transfer this summer after coach Mauricio Pochettino left Real Madrid after dismissing Spanish defender Sergio Ramos. Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum also joined after ending his contract with Liverpool.
Italy’s Euro 2020 winning goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has also joined after his contract with AC Milan expires, while Moroccan fullback Achraf Hakimi has reportedly joined Inter Milan for 60 million euros ($70 million).
The arrival of Messi, whose final contract with Barcelona totaled 555 million euros and was described as the most profitable in world sport, is also set to spark a renewed debate about it. uefaFinancial Fair Game Rules.
The rules were first introduced in 2009 to ban some of the sport’s worst excesses, but have been criticized by some prominent figures for being ineffective.
The arrival of Messi, who has 245 million followers on Instagram and is Barcelona’s most decorated player of all time, is also welcome news for France’s Ligue 1, mired in TV rights woes.
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