Lionel Messi leaves PSG

One of the best players in the history of football, Lionel Messi, officially leaves PSG. This was stated by the head coach of the Parisians Christophe Galtier. He said that on Saturday, Messi will play his last match for PSG, and asked the fans to show the greatest possible respect to the Argentinean. Note that Messi’s contract with PSG expires at the end of June. A very likely career option for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is to move to Saudi Arabia, where he is tipped to get a fantastic deal ranging from €300m to €600m a year.

Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, 2022 world champion Lionel Messi is leaving PSG. This was announced by the head coach of the Parisians Christophe Galtier. “It was an honor for me to train one of the strongest footballers in history,” Galtier told reporters. “On Saturday, Messi will play his last match for PSG (the Parisians, who secured the title ahead of schedule, will host Clermont in their field.”— “b”), and I hope the public will give him the warmest possible reception.”

Recall that Lionel Messi moved to PSG in 2021 from Barcelona as a free agent. Last season in matches for the Parisians, he scored 21 goals and 20 assists. However, it is impossible to call his stay at PSG super-successful. The Champions League (for PSG, which consistently wins the French championship, it is the main European Cup that is the key goal) remained unconquered for his team.

Messi’s imminent departure from PSG was no secret. Everything became clear in early May, when the leadership of the Parisian club went into direct conflict with its main star.

Then the club exposed Argentinean two-week suspension for his unscheduled visit to Saudi Arabia. Then it was decided to withhold Messi’s salary for two weeks. According to unofficial data, the salary of the Argentinean in Paris was about €35 million per year. That is, he missed about €1.35 million.

The trip of the Argentine was not entertaining, but quite businesslike. In 2022, he signed a contract with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Tourism to take on the role of tourism ambassador for the Middle Eastern country. According to unofficial data, this agreement will bring Messi $ 25 million a year. Previously, Messi has already visited Saudi Arabia twice as part of the fulfillment of obligations under the contract. The third visit was scheduled for March, but due to the difficulties that PSG faced in tournaments, it was repeatedly postponed. As a result, Messi did not once again postpone the trip, PSG could not stand it, and relations between the parties deteriorated.

They, however, were already difficult, given that Messi there was an offer from the Saudi club Al-Hilal, and he himself has never publicly stated that he does not intend to go for the Middle East option to continue his career. But the offer is fantastic, with a cosmic salary: from €300 million to €600 million per year. Apparently, in the near future we should wait for the announcement of Messi’s move to the Saudi Arabian championship, where Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved to An-Nasr in the winter, is already playing, and where Real Madrid stars Karim Benzema, who won the Golden ball”, and Luka Modric, who won the prestigious prize in 2018. Yes, Benzema received from the Al-Ittihad club an offer of € 400 million for two seasons. Modric has been tipped to contract with An-Nasr for €120m over three seasons.

However, it is not excluded return Messi to Barcelona Earlier it was reported that the American Inter Miami could sign a contract with the Argentinean, after which Messi would be loaned to Barcelona. It is assumed that such a scheme will allow the Catalan team to meet the rules of financial fair play.

Arnold Kabanov