Lionel Messi said Wednesday his “immense happiness” to be a Paris SG player and “dream” of finally offering him his Holy Grail, the Champions League, which he has already won four times with FC Barcelona.
To win again the queen competition of European football, the Argentine striker is convinced to be “in the ideal place”, he said during a press conference broadcast live on a giant screen for the hundreds supporters gathered in front of the Parc des Princes.
In Paris, the “Messimania” does not weaken. Fans came at dawn to queue in front of the club’s shops to be sure they could buy a jersey flocked with his name and the number 30. On the online store, the men’s models were already out of stock in the middle. morning.
“La Puce” made a success of its arrival, sporting, at the same time as a huge smile which he has not lost since, a t-shirt “Here is Paris” to greet them like a benevolent monarch at the Bourget airport, around the Parc des Princes, then finally on the balcony of his hotel in the beautiful Parisian districts.
– Galactics –
Sunday, he delivered a fond farewell to FC Barcelona where he began to write his legend since he was 13 years old. But since then, he has decided to make his “French revolution”, as the Spanish daily Marca wrote on Wednesday.
PSG are a rival club of Barça and “what does it hurt!”, Headline the Catalans of Sport. “It’s hard for me to imagine Messi wearing any other shirt than Barça’s,” his former teammate Xavi said in an interview with The Times.
The reasons which prompted the leaders of the club of the capital to hire the 34-year-old striker are known: Messi gives a new dimension to his project, both sporting and economic.
For the entire French Championship, undermined by the health crisis and the drastic reduction in its audiovisual revenues, it’s a breath of fresh air. This is “extraordinary news for the exposure of Ligue 1 internationally,” savored the president of the League, Vincent Labrune.
On the field side, the presence of the “Pulga” brings Paris closer to its dream of winning the Champions League. Its wealthy Qatari owner (QSI) therefore hopes that the superstar who has won it four times will show him the way.
It is a galactic team, reinforced this summer by Georginio Wijnaldum, but also Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma, three players who were the captains of the Netherlands, Real Madrid and AC Milan last season. Without forgetting the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi who, in his right lane, made a strong impression during the preparation matches and the Champions Trophy.
“The addition of Leo to our world-class team confirms the relevance and success of our recruitment,” said PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.
– The silence of Mbappé –
With Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, if the latter were to stay, the Argentine would form one of the most formidable attacking trios in history, reminiscent of the ‘MSN’ of his Catalan era, alongside Luis Suarez … and Neymar.
The future of the Frenchman, who has still not extended his contract expiring in 2022 and which the Spanish press evokes at Real Madrid, remains unresolved, however.
Wednesday at midday, he still had not reacted to the arrival of Messi, unlike Neymar, delighted to see his duet with Messi “reunited again”. But Nasser al Khelaifi noted that with this recruitment, Mbappé had “no excuse” to wish to leave, PSG being the club that offers him the most sports guarantees.
The debut of the future Parisian N.30 is not expected for Saturday, against Strasbourg in Ligue 1, due to his delay in physical preparation. He could start on the 29th in Reims, or after the international break, against Clermont on September 12th.
If he is expensive, Messi is also a superstar likely to bring very big to the club, which has six times less subscribers on Instagram than his player, even if the audience of the club grows exponentially with 3 million subscribers. more in two days.
According to the French press, PSG offered a net annual salary of around 40 million euros per year, along with a large signing bonus, to the Argentinian who has signed up for two years, with an additional season optional.
Such emoluments would place him at the level of Neymar (36 M EUR), the highest paid footballer in the history of French football.
The opportunity was too good for QSI, in a context of light financial fair play which gives it more margin.
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