Lionel Messi cries at last conference with BarcelonaSodiq Oyeleke8 August 2021
Lionel Messi has announced that there is a possibility that his next club would be Paris Saint-Germain.
The superstar, however, clarified that his future is not certain.
He said this Barcelona press conference over his future on Sunday.
This is coming three days after financially-strapped Barcelona announced they were unable to keep the superstar who is reportedly close to a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
While answering a question on where he would play next season, Messi says that “PSG is one possibility” for the future, but immediately adds that his future is not yet determined.
“I have nothing confirmed with anyone. There are a lot of clubs interested. At the minute, nothing is closed. We are talking about a lot of things.”
PSG are offering Lionel Messi a two-year contract worth £25m a year, Skysports reports.
They are confident he will sign it this week and Messi’s lawyers are in Paris working on the deal. The contract has an option for a third year.
It will be the start of a long-term relationship between Messi and Qatar as they prepare to host the World Cup finals next year.
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PSG believe they can sign Messi without breaking any Financial Fair Play rules because his signing will generate more revenue than he will cost in wages.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Friday he was not prepared “to put the club at risk” by renewing Messi’s contract, as the club face up to huge financial problems ahead of the start of La Liga on August 15.
Laporta said Barcelona were no longer negotiating with Messi and the Argentine forward was considering other offers.
PSG, who bought Neymar from Barcelona for a world-record 222 million euros ($264 million) in 2017, appear favourites to sign Messi according to reports in France.
Significantly, Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of the Qatar-owned club, and sporting director Leonardo both missed the team’s 2-1 win at Troyes in their Ligue 1 season-opener on Saturday night.
Sports daily L’Equipe also indicated Messi is to receive a three-year “record contract” with “a net annual wage of 40 million euros” — but it appears nothing has been signed.
Funded by a sovereign wealth fund from gas-rich Qatar, PSG is seen as one of the few clubs in the world with deep enough pockets to make a bid for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Messi was pictured earlier this month on holiday with Neymar, plus Argentina teammates Angel di Maria and Leandro Paredes and fellow PSG star Marco Verrati.
- Chelsea Agrees Club-Record Fee To Re-Sign Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea Agrees Club-Record Fee To Re-Sign Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea have agreed in principle a club-record deal worth £97.5m (€115m) to re-sign striker Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.
The paperwork is now with club lawyers and once that is formalised, prolific striker Lukaku will undergo a medical and sign a five-year contract.
Inter have previously rejected two offers from Chelsea for the Belgium international, the second of which was worth £85m (€100m) plus left-back Marcos Alonso.
Lukaku, 28, left Chelsea in 2014 after making just 15 appearances following his arrival at Stamford Bridge from Anderlecht in 2011.
The striker scored 87 goals in 166 games for Everton between 2014 and 2017 and found the net 42 times in 96 appearances during his two years at Manchester United before signing for Inter in 2019.
He scored 24 goals in Serie A last season, helping Inter to its first Scudetto in 11 years as the club put an end to Juventus’ nine-year dominance as Italian champions.
