Why did messi join psg ? Lionel Messi has revealed he chose to join Paris Saint-Germain after leaving Barcelona as he believes they offer him the best chance of winning the Champions League for a fifth time.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner also admitted his former Barcelona team-mate Neymar helped to persuade him to move to PSG when it became clear his time at the Nou Camp was at an end.
But despite the upheaval, the forward says he is now focused on bringing success to the French capital – particularly in the Champions League, which has proved elusive so far.
When asked if PSG – who were runners-up in 2020 – could make the final step, Messi said: “I think this team is already done and ready.
“There are some new transfers but they have been very close and they are ready.
“I just came here to help – I’ll give my best. My goal and my dream is to win this trophy again and I think that Paris is the best place to have a chance to win it again.
“It’s not easy. Sometimes you can have the best team in the world and you don’t win the Champions League – this is football.
“Paris has been so close to a victory in the Champions League. In the best competition, the best teams are playing.
“It’s very difficult to win it. You need a very united squad. This dressing room is very united but you also need luck.
“It’s a very special competition and that’s why it’s so beautiful and so important – we all want to win this competition.”
Messi’s most recent triumph in the Champions League came in 2015, when a Barcelona team spearheaded by him, Neymar and Luis Suarez beat Juventus in Berlin.
Neymar celebrated his reunion with Messi on social media on Tuesday, and the Argentine admitted the Brazil forward had played an influential role in his decision to move to PSG, as well as his countryman and new manager, Mauricio Pochettino.
“I’ve got some friends here in the dressing room,” Messi said. “When you see the squad you really want to play with them.
“The whole dressing room and the staff had an influence on my decision. When we saw it was possible, the first thing we did was talk to them and Pochettino. We’ve known each other for a long time and we are close, in a way.
“It’s been very easy since the very beginning. All the squad and the staff did a lot to help me choose this club.”
While Messi will be playing professional football for a club outside of Spain for the first time in his career, there is the potential for PSG and Barcelona to meet in the Champions League.
That scenario would bring about an emotional reunion between Messi and his former club, and would also offer him the opportunity to say goodbye to the Barca fans that were unable to witness his final season at the Nou Camp due to coronavirus restrictions.
“Barcelona is my home, I’ve been there since I was a kid,” said Messi. “I’ve lived so many things there – good and bad.
“I don’t know if we are going to face each other. It would be very nice to go back to Barcelona. I hope it will be with the fans.
“It would be very strange to play there with another shirt, but it can happen.”
Lionel Messi to PSG: the inside story of how a stunning deal was done
It was 10pm in Barcelona on Thursday when Paris Saint-Germain made their move for Lionel Messi. The stunning news had broken two hours earlier that the forward would not be staying at the Camp Nou and the way PSG went about their business showed how determined they were to get their man.
In transfers approaches are regularly made via intermediaries or agents, and clubs hoping to tempt Messi from Barcelona had often gone down this route. But PSG calculated this was a moment for the personal touch and, seeing an unexpected opening, they pounced.
The sporting director, Leonardo, made a direct approach to Messi’s father, Jorge, and the player’s lawyers – and the president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, joined the talks later that night. It is rare for Khelaifi to get involved but he did so with Neymar’s transfer from Barcelona four years ago and his presence here confirmed the move’s scale and the seriousness of PSG’s push.
On Thursday morning such a turn of events had seemed impossible. Messi and his father had travelled back to Barcelona from Ibiza for the player to sign a five-year contract to stay at the Camp Nou. An announcement was planned for 8pm and the details were clear: two years’ salary paid over five years to help the financially troubled club.
Messi was stunned and distraught when Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta, said La Liga’s rules on salary limits meant the club had no way to register him. But his father quickly stressed to him the need to find a solution and both were impressed that two of the most important people at PSG came straight to them. Messi also spoke to the manager, Mauricio Pochettino.
Talks involving Khelaifi, Leonardo, Jorge Messi and the player’s lawyers went late into Thursday night and continued all through Friday. The Messi camp were excited by the project presented to them and accepted the wage proposal of about €35m (£29.6m) net, including bonuses, on a two-year contract with an option for a further season. Negotiations on issues such as taxes and sponsors took much of the time. The need to factor in financial fair play rules was discussed but PSG were always confident on that front. Messi’s deal, like Neymar’s, has a clause that guarantees him a bonus if PSG win the Champions League.
On Saturday a verbal agreement was reached and PSG prepared a formal contract with their legal team. This was sent to Messi at 10am on Sunday, not long before his tearful farewell press conference at Barcelona. Although Messi denied there that a deal with PSG was done, in reality it was all but sorted.
Messi’s lawyers wanted two days to check every detail and rumours that the player was flying to Paris were at that stage false. By Monday night, though, everything was in place and final agreement was confirmed at about 10am on Tuesday morning. A short while later Messi and his family set off for Barcelona airport.
In the PSG dressing room celebrations at Messi joining had started as early as Friday. That was because Neymar had confidently told the squad his former Barcelona teammate would be coming. From Thursday night Neymar had acted almost like a member of the PSG board, calling and messaging Messi and pushing him to make the move.
Lionel Messi joins PSG on two-year deal after leaving Barcelona
Lionel Messi has signed with Paris Saint-Germain after being unable to renew his contract with Barcelona.
The forward joins on a two-year deal with the option of a third season.
Messi, 34, became a free agent on 1 July when his deal with Barcelona expired and had reached an agreement to extend his 21-year stay with the Spanish club.
But with Barcelona unable to sign their captain and record goalscorer to a new contract due to their wage bill exceeding La Liga rules, Messi was forced to leave his boyhood club and sign for a new team for the first time in his professional career.
The six-time Ballon D’Or winner gave an emotional press conference on Sunday in which he said he wanted to stay at Barcelona, the club he first joined as a 13-year-old, and insisted he had done everything he could to remain at the Camp Nou.
At Paris Saint-Germain, Messi will form a star-studded attacking line-up with former Barcelona team-mate Neymar and French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe.
PSG and manager Mauricio Pochettino moved quickly to sign the Argentine once it was clear he would be leaving Barcelona, with the former Tottenham boss holding talks with Messi hours after Barca confirmed the news of his departure.
The French club were linked with a move to Messi last summer, when the forward told Barcelona he wanted to leave, while Manchester City were also interested at the time.
Unlike last summer, however, Messi had not been pushing for a move away from Barcelona prior to joining PSG – even though his contract had expired. At his farewell press conference, Messi confirmed that he had agreed to take a 50 per cent wage cut to remain at the club but La Liga rules prevented him from signing a new contract.
As Messi was a free agent, Barcelona had to reduce its wage bill to 70 per cent of its turnover in order to register him as a new player. But with free agents Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia already signed this summer, Barcelona’s wages were at 95 per cent of their turnover, leaving them unable to renew their greatest ever player.
On Sunday, Messi said joining PSG was one “possibility” and that he had been contacted by several teams since his departure from Barcelona had been confirmed.
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