PSG: Lionel Messi will extend in Paris
The greatest player in the history of football does not want to leave Paris and will wear the colors of PSG during the 2023-2024 season! This information from the Parisian inevitably has the effect of a bomb only three days after the coronation of the Argentine number 10 in the World Cup final.
However, there is no direct link. Regular exchanges between PSG leaders and Jorge Messi, the player’s father and agent. Within three months, the main lines of an extension are drawn. And at the beginning of December, in the middle of the World Cup, an agreement in principle was reached. It will be sealed as soon as the player returns from vacation, during a meeting with Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and Luis Campos, where the duration and value of his contract will be refined.
Even at the top of the world, he is not satisfied
Lionel Messi doesn’t seem to be hard to convince. Paris offers him two important elements in his eyes: his family is happy and PSG allows him to stay at the highest level of Europe. While Cristiano Ronaldo’s career is nearing its twilight, Messi’s has reached its peak with the world title.
And the Argentinian is not satisfied. To surely fold the battle against his Portuguese rival, he still has eleven more goals to score in the Champions League to dislodge him from the ranking of top scorers in the club’s biggest competition.
PSG is the club that offers him the highest guarantee to achieve this goal and above all, the hope of lifting the Champions League for the fifth time. Together with Mbappé and Neymar, Messi forms the greatest attack in the history of football. He is happy, winning and now the favorite for an 8th Ballon d’Or at the Parc des Princes. At 35, he is pushing the limits and showing that retirement age has not yet arrived. And there is no doubt that the situation of Ronaldo, planetary star without a club since this winter, has not left the Argentinian indifferent.
His future has been the subject of much speculation in recent months. After an incredible first season at PSG, marked by boos from supporters after elimination in the Champions League, many saw him quickly change his tune. It was announced in Miami, at the Beckham club, in this sunny city where the Messi family has an apartment and likes to relax. Others, blinded by the deception of President Joan Laporta, thought he would return to Catalonia.
The capital club remained one step ahead
But the Catalan club does not have the financial resources to bring back the man with seven Ballon d’Ors. And on top of that, even though Barça remains the club of his life, Messi still harbors deep resentment towards its leaders. He never argued with Barça and respectfully listened to the arguments of David Beckham, shareholder of the Miami club.
In fact, PSG always remains one step ahead of some competitors. The real question for Campos and Al-Khelaïfi is how Messi will deal with a World Cup disappointment and what direction he will give his career. The way the World’s best player flew through the competition erased any doubts. The Flea is still hungry and its genius is intact. He will delight Paris supporters for at least a year and a half.
Unity found
A man of few words, Messi spoke about his well-being in Paris in an interview with Conmebol ahead of the World Cup. “I prefer Paris, I discover the city and I find it wonderful. In the first year, there was a big change. Things happened suddenly, it was not my intention to leave Barcelona and everything was sudden. After these long and difficult times, I’m happy to live where I live and my family and I enjoy Paris. Today, I enjoy everything including football. »
He did find a smile as his statistics prove it: 4 goals, 4 assists in 5 games in the Champions League and 7 goals and 10 assists in Ligue 1… Behind these numbers, an infectious joy and a harmony that found with Mbappé and Neymar. The World Cup is his goal in life. He has lost this pressure and can give the best in Paris. No other club can offer him such playing conditions. And such salary conditions: almost €41 million gross per year, which remains less than Kylian Mbappé’s €72 million.
The Mbappé file will be the next big challenge for Paris leaders. Officially under contract until 2025 (with an exit door from 2024), the French prodigy made his intentions known elsewhere last autumn, criticizing his president Nasser al-Khelaïfi for failing to fulfill his promises commitment to a sporting point of view. Will Messi’s extension affect his thinking? There is no doubt… Mbappé wants to be number one in his team and now seeks to stay out of the limelight. But he also knows that it is by playing the best that he gives himself the best chance to fill his trophy cabinet. A dilemma that will undoubtedly be the soap opera of the spring.
