PSG working to sign Messi, but the numbers don't add up

PSG can't balance their books to get Messi. Leonardo, their sports director, is working to try and get hold of him, as signing him up without paying a transfer fee is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but, as journalist Julien Laurens explains, the operation borders on the impossible.

"With the 'Financial Fair Play', the pandemic and how much the PSG has been affected like all the other big clubs, I do not know how, only in the level of payroll, you could have Neymar, say 30 million euros a year, Messi, to 60 million euros a year and Mbappé, potentially with a new contract at the same price as Neymar," said the specialist in the 'Transfer Talk' podcast of 'Sky Sports'.

"Only the three would be around 150 million euros. Only in salary, every year. Financially, this is not possible, but they seem to say they are going to try. I don't think it's realistic," he concluded. The problem, as he specified, is the economic one although the French club is one of the healthiest in this sense in the world.

Another task that Leonardo has on the table is the renewal of Neymar and Mbappé - they finish their contract in 2022. It has already come to light that, with Pochettino at the helm, the extension of the Brazilian's contract is still a higher priority than that of the Frenchman.