The entire European media aligns: tonight (Wednesday), a series of senior journalists claims it is closed – Lionel Messi will stay at Paris Saint-Germain, at least until the end of the 2023/24 season. Only 72 hours after historically winning the World Cup with Argentina, “The Flea” chose stability – and will continue to play together with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, in the ranks of the French champions.
The talks were held between PSG leaders and Messi’s father and agent, Jorge. According to “Le Parisien”, the negotiations went on for three months, and during December – while Messi was playing with the Argentina national team in the World Cup – the agreement in principle was reached that Messi would stay at the club for one more year, in a meeting held in Doha, Qatar.
Messi, it was written, was not that hard to convince. Paris offered him two elements that were essential for him: his family is happy in France, and PSG offers him the possibility to continue playing at the high European level. While the career of his great rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, is in the twilight, Messi is at his peak after winning the World Cup – and “The Flea” wants to take advantage of this to win more titles.
Bottom line, PSG was the only club that offered him the best chance to win the Champions League again. Together with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, Messi leads the best attacking trio in football history, and is now also the leading candidate to win the Ballon d’Or again – for the eighth time in his career.
This news comes at the end of long months and rumors about his future. In the background, alongside Paris of course, was Inter Miami from the MLS, certainly in light of the fact that Messi went to Miami to rest in the apartment he owns there; And of course, Barcelona also remained in the background, who still continued to fantasize about a dream comeback to the ranks of his youth club. But Barca does not have the financial capabilities to meet his salary, and the relationship between Messi and the Barcelona leaders is not one of the best either.
The concern on the part of the leaders of PSG (and specifically with the president Nasser Al Khalaifi and the professional director Luis Campos) was how Messi would deal with the possibility of failure in the World Cup, and what the consequences of a loss – in the final, for that matter – would be on his future. By winning the World Cup, the last doubts were erased. Messi is going to turn on the lights in the city of lights, it seems, for a long time to come.