Leo Messi, PSG player, in the last league match against Lorient last Sunday.FRANCK FIFE (AFP)
Lionel Messi’s stage in Paris is over. According to L’Equipe newspaper, PSG decided not to exercise the option to extend the Argentine striker’s contract for another season. Tension between Messi and PSG had increased in recent weeks. However, the end of the relationship between the French club and the former Barcelona forward happened this Tuesday. After last Sunday’s defeat by Lorient (1-3) in Ligue 1, the players of the Parisian entity had training on Monday morning and a day off on Tuesday. Messi decided to travel to Riyadh (around 6,000km from Paris) for a promotional engagement with the Persian Gulf country, which also has strained ties with Qatar, PSG’s main shareholder. Messi, according to the Parisian club, didn’t have clearance to make the aforementioned transfer, which is why he was sanctioned with two weeks of not being able to play or train. Of course, he doesn’t get his salary either.
Nobody expected this abrupt end between Messi and PSG before the start of the World Cup in Qatar. They were not expecting him in Paris or in Rosario. In fact, they had already reached an agreement in principle that the striker should complete the year of the agreed option deal in 2021. The offer didn’t change: the Argentine could continue in Paris as long as both parties agreed on the same terms and conditions. PSG had already activated their part and Messi was absent to do the same with his. However, when Jorge Messi, the player’s agent, traveled to Paris to find out about the club’s new project, the relationship between PSG and Messi started to cool.
More information
Messi started to feel the club destabilizing him. Despite 20 goals and 19 assists, some of the PSG fans whistled for Rosario. Barcelona appeared on the way. The people closest to Joan Laporta were testing the Albiceleste captain with the possibility of returning to the Camp Nou. Xavi joined the illusion for the Argentine’s return. However, Barça haven’t made a formal offer to the player’s family yet. The only option the Argentine has on the table so far is to emigrate to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia for €400m for a season. He also had PSG’s, of course. But the offer fell on Tuesday.
Messi is in an unprecedented situation in his career. Without a clear and sanctioned future. He will at least miss the games against Troyes (May 7) and Ajaccio (May 13). With a monthly salary estimated at around 3.37 million euros, the sanction will deprive him of around 1.70 million euros. This unprecedented penalty coincides with the serious sporting crisis that PSG is going through, which has deepened since the end of the World Cup in Qatar, the very one that enthroned Messi.
The team from the capital was eliminated by FC Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16 and lost three of their last four home games, which limited the lead in the domestic championship over second-placed (Olympique de Marseille) to five points. The 35-year-old captain of the Argentina team will also end his contract with the Parisians next June.
Follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.