OFFICIAL: Leo Messi signs for PSG

José Manuel Moya 2 years ago 41.2k |

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Leo Messi will leave the team of his life for PSG. BeSoccer

It's now official and the dream day has arrived for PSG. Leo Messi is leaving Barcelona to play at the Parc des Princes. The Argentine star will join the French side for the next two seasons, with the option to extend for one more, until June 2024. PSG's new star player will be paid 35 million euros per season.

Leo Messi is a new Paris Saint-Germain player. Possibly the most remarkable signing in recent years, as nobody thought that the Argentine star would leave Barcelona for another team. Leo says goodbye to a glorious spell at the Catalan club and 17 seasons later he will wear a shirt of another team. The Argentinian has signed a contract for the next two seasons with an option for another one. He will be paid 35 million per season and will be one of the highest paid players in the French team.

Messi has left Barcelona on Tuesday 10th at midday, where he has generated a lot of expectation and his father has already made a spoiler by confirming the expected. "Yes, we are going to Paris," confirmed the father of the best player in the world. Shortly after Antonela uploaded a photo before the plane took off. He arrived in Paris on 10th August at around 4pm and PSG revealed a video in which the player did not appear at any point, but his six golden balls did... The presentation was on Wednesday 11th at 11am.

This last week Messi, Barcelona and PSG have collided their tectonic plates causing an earthquake in world football. This signing will mark a before and after in the history of football and PSG signed one of the best players in the history of football at the age of 34. There were a lot of expectations surrounding the signing of the Argentine striker and finally the soap opera has come to an end.

Everything pointed to the fact that Messi was going to renew his contract with Barcelona, who were juggling to get the deal done. In fact, after the agreement announced by La Liga with CVC, everything seemed to be on track. But all this changed overnight, from almost having his signature on a new 5-year contract with Barca to being a PSG player.

For many Messi is the best player and for others one of the best, the fact is that his signing for the Parisian club leaves Barca and La Liga without their star player. Cristiano Ronaldo already left in 2018 and three years later his top competitor is doing the same. Messi's departure will also affect the morale of the entire Camp Nou family, from players to fans, who will no longer be able to see their star on their side.

The Argentinian said goodbye on Sunday 8th August at the Camp Nou, after a press conference marked by tears as he wanted to continue playing at Barcelona this year. Messi answered questions from journalists and said goodbye to his teammates and the fans, although he assured that he would have liked to say goodbye with the Camp Nou full of fans chanting his name.

Messi ya no es jugador del Barcelona. EFE

Decision to go to Paris

Messi had decided to renew his contract with Barca this year, unlike last season when his intention was to leave. However, the one who has not been able to close the renewal due to its economic crisis has been the Catalan club and Messi leaves Barca after a whole life. Once it becomes official that he is leaving Barca, all eyes are on PSG, which seems to be the only team in the world to create a Dream Team without any obstacles.

PSG are signing big players this summer, Messi would be the fifth big signing after Ramos, Achraf, Donnarumma and Wijnaldum. A dream team that Nasser Al-Khelaifi has put together for the 2021-22 season. A team to fight for everything and to win everything, because with Messi, Mbappe and Neymar up front, there is nothing that the Paris giants can resist.

Several teams have sounded the alarm for Messi since his contract expired on June 30th, but it seems that Messi has always had in mind to renew and then PSG. In Paris he has many friends with whom he also met a few weeks ago and that may have been the trigger for him to end up in France. City directly ruled out signing Messi after the 100 million pounds they had just spent for Grealish and in the fight for the number 10 only PSG remained.

August 10, 2021

Last months at Barcelona

Messi's contract expired on 30th June 2021 and since then he has been a free agent. On 16th May he played his last game for Barca and at the end of the same month he joined up with the Argentina national team for the Copa America. Joan Laporta seemed calm, but the player would become a free agent days later.

After winning the Copa America with Argentina, Messi would go on holiday with his family to think about his future. August seemed to be the key month for his renewal, but a complete turnaround from one day to the next changed all the plans of the Catalan board who were doing the impossible to settle their accounts and be able to renew Messi.

The player's desire this year was to stay at Barca and he said so in his farewell speech, but it was not to be this year. The player wanted to stay at home in Barcelona with his family and prioritised the welfare of his wife and sons. Messi is leaving the club that has seen him grow up and will join the star-studded cast of the French team.

Leo Messi is a Barcelona, La Liga, Argentina and footballing legend. Little more can be added about one of the best players in the history of football, for many the best. These are some of his numbers as a footballer: he has won 6 times the Ballon d'Or, 5 golden boots, 10 Spanish leagues, 4 Champions Leagues, and much more. He has played a whopping 778 games with the club of his life and has scored 672 goals, a crazy amount, figures only within the reach of the best.