This date of Tuesday, August 10, 2021 will go down in the history of PSG, and of French football. Paris Saint-Germain have pulled off the heist of the century, the one that no one could have imagined a few days ago, even in their wildest dreams. Leo Messi has left Barça, and has officially committed, and freely, with the club of the capital.
The transfer of the century
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The “papal hi” of a Messi just arrived in Paris, awaited by several hundred supporters at Le Bourget. © REUTERS / Yves Herman
After having written his legend, and that of football, within FC Barcelona, the Pulga is now turned to its new chapter. The opportunity was too good for Paris, which undoubtedly has the biggest transfer window in history.
So let’s not sulk our pleasure! And the hundreds of supporters present in front of Le Bourget airport, who waited for the Pulga for more than two days, were not mistaken. Ten years after the arrival of QSI, PSG has come a long way. And French football can consider itself happy and honored to recover a six-fold golden ball, a football legend. A bit as if Pelé had played at Saint-Étienne.
At 34, Messi will discover a new championship, our good old “League of talents”. He will form, with Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, a trio with paces, on paper, the best attack in history. And today, a new era can begin for Ligue 1, in search of momentum after 18 complicated months, between premature end of the 2019-20 season, crisis of TV rights and behind closed doors stadiums .
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Lionel Messi has been officially a PSG player since Tuesday, August 10, 2021. © PSG. Fr
Paris, a new chapter in its legend
Beyond the mind-blowing statistics possessed by the Argentine, which everyone knows, Messi left lasting memories with Catalan supporters, especially during the «Classics» against Real Madrid or in the Champions League. So many stories and exploits that shaped his legend, and that he should perpetuate before our eyes, during the next two seasons.
Because the six-fold Golden Ball, author of 30 goals last season in La Liga from the top of his 34 spring, does not arrive at PSG in pre-retirement. In search of a seventh golden ball, which he would celebrate at the Parc des Princes, Messi seems determined to win, again, and why not offer PSG the title in C1 that he so covets.
So yes, the most romantic of us can be disappointed following his departure from Barcelona, a club where he spent 21 years and where we would all have liked him to end his career. But the world has changed, and few footballers are players of only one club. So even if it means seeing Messi leave Barça, let’s rejoice to see him roam the arenas of Ligue 1!
Obviously, the arrival of a star of his caliber will raise issues. How will PSG play? PSG will he not be too unbalanced? Who of Neymar, Messi or Mbappé will run to the loss of the ball? How will Mauricio Pochettino deal with egos?
But questions about the athlete will come later. In the meantime, PSG fans or not, let’s savor this chance to see one of the greatest, if not the greatest, player in history.
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