Several media reports that PSG has shelved their star player Lionel Messi. Messi’s continuation in the Parisian club is increasingly unlikely.
Rumors Lionel Messi’s have been around for a long time, but now they have accelerated. The Argentinian joined French side Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021, and the two-year contract ends this season. At the moment, it seems strongly that the contract’s three-year option will not be exercised.
The wrinkle in love between 35-year-old Messi and PSG deepened even more after Sunday’s Lorient match. PSG lost their home match to a middle-class team 1-3, and on Monday Messi traveled to Saudi Arabia without permission on business.
Messi’s trip was not surprising, as he is an ambassador for tourism in Saudi Arabia and PSG has given him permission to sign his own sponsorship contracts. The biggest problem with Messi’s trip was that he should have been part of the team’s training on Monday.
According to the French magazine L’Equipe, the coach Christophe Galtier had asked the players to have Monday and Tuesday off if the team beat Lorient. Messi had already postponed his trip twice and planned to travel to Saudi Arabia as soon as the team had two days off.
With the defeat, the days off ended, but Messi was no longer able to postpone his trip.
Several French media and news agencies reported late Tuesday evening that Messi had been sidelined for two weeks due to the trip. With this punishment, the club wanted to show its star player that no player is more important to the club.
– He cannot train or play, and he will not be paid during the disciplinary proceedings either, an anonymous source told news agency AFP.
If Messi has to be sidelined for two weeks, he will not be in the lineup when PSG face Troyes on Sunday and Ajaccio the following week on Saturday. PSG currently leads the French league by five points ahead of second-placed Marseille with five rounds remaining.
Messi has won the Ballon d’Or, the golden ball for the best male player, seven times. This season, he has completed 20 goals this season and leads the league in assists with 15 assists. However, his performances this season have not been what was expected of him.
When Messi, who was named the best player in the world, moved from Barcelona to Paris a couple of years ago, the supporters of the Catalan club reacted strongly by, among other things, tearing Messi out of the team photos.
This kind of thing can hardly be expected from PSG supporters, as Messi has lost his luster in Paris. He has not been considered committed to the club in the same way as he was to Barcelona. Messi has been booed and booed, and fans have seen Messi as an example of what has gone wrong at the club. In their opinion, it has only focused on securing superstars and has not built a truly competitive team.
Although the club has been successful in the French league, PSG was eliminated in the Champions League in the first round of the playoffs. Also in the French Cup, the team only made it to the top 16.
At the beginning of April, a journalist specializing in the football transfer market Fabrizio Romano revealed (you switch to another service), that Messi received a huge contract offer from Saudi Arabia. Al-Hilal SFC, which plays in the country’s league, offered an annual salary of no less than 400 million euros, but Messi did not accept the offer.
playing for Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr Cristiano Ronaldo38, the annual salary is estimated to be around 189 million euros.
Romano tweeted on Wednesday that Messi will definitely leave PSG after this season. According to Romano, Messi Jorge-father announced the decision to the club management already a month ago, and it was the last straw for PSG.
Sources: The Athletic, AFP, AP