If Paris Saint Germain (PSG) have their way, Barcelona legend Lionel Messi will be turning out for Les Parisiens in 2021/22. Reports suggest that PSG’s Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are working hard to entice the Argentine to the French capital to finish his career, with his current contract with Barcelona due to expire this summer.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Mbappe is working just as hard as Neymar to convince Messi that his future lies at the Parc des Princes. The French striker has regularly taken to social media to fuel the speculation, including a recent tweet of him looking at Messi during a UEFA Champions League clash.
PSG were comfortable winners over Barca in their last 16 two-legged contest in the Champions League, overcoming the Catalan giants 6-2 on aggregate. The victory has seen shift in the betting on Les Rouge et Bleu, with US online sports betting analyst FOX Bet pricing them as new third favourites at +500 behind Manchester City (+225) and Bayern Munich (+300). There is a sense that this Champions League loss well and truly spells the end of an era for this Barca squad, which has dominated continental football for so long, but won’t even be competing at the quarter final stage of this year’s Champions League.
Although new Barcelona president Joan Laporta has pledged to do everything in his power to keep Messi happy and motivated at the Nou Camp, it’s going to be a hard sell given that Messi will be a free agent in the close season and will be able to negotiate a hugely lucrative new deal with another club. Although Messi turns 34 in June, the Argentine is still one of the hottest properties in world football and PSG are hopeful that the opportunity to work again with two of his compatriots could sweeten a move to Ligue 1.
PSG forward Angel Di Maria is a long-time international team-mate of Messi’s with Argentina, with the former Manchester United wide man publicly stating his wish to play alongside Messi in club football before he retires. The Argentine influences don’t end there. Manager, Mauricio Pochettino is a former Argentine midfield icon and could be the missing piece in the jigsaw in convincing Messi to end his playing days with PSG. Reports suggest that Pochettino is already cultivating a “Latino” culture within the PSG squad, which could help Messi feel right at home from day one.
Can Barcelona afford to retain Messi’s services anyway?
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Before new Barca president Joan Laporta was sworn into the hot-seat, he had to negotiate an emergency €125m bank guarantee to maintain the club’s liquidity. Spanish newspaper El Mundo warned at the end of January that the club was on the “verge of bankruptcy”, hamstrung by $1.4bn of debt. So perilous is the issue that most players were not paid on time in January either.
It begs the question as to whether the club can continue to afford to pay his €71m-a-year contract, particularly as he enters the twilight years of his career. During his welcome speech, Laporta admitted that the “economic situation” was the primary “source of pre-occupation” within the club. Laporta is making it his missions to help the club to become “economically viable” once more, but it seems his “shock plan” will involve trying to keep Messi within the fabric of the club.
Whether PSG is the right place for the next chapter in Lionel Messi’s career also remains to be seen. France’s domestic Ligue 1 is notoriously weaker than other leading top-flights in Europe, not least the English Premier League. Manchester City and Pep Guardiola were very keen to sign Messi last summer. The 2020/21 EPL champions elect could return to the negotiating table at the end of this season and give Messi a chance to pair up with Sergio Aguero at the Etihad Stadium, despite him being linked with a move to Chelsea.
Other potential curveball career moves for Messi could include a Beckham-esque switch to a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise in the US or a final pay-day in the Middle East or Chinese Super League. Either way, this saga looks like rumbling on for several weeks and months yet.