'Best player in history' Messi leaving Paris Saint-Germain
Lionel
Messi is leaving Paris Saint-Germain after their final match of the season on
Saturday, the Ligue 1 champions said on social media.
"After
two seasons in the capital, Leo Messi's adventure with Paris Saint-Germain will
come to a conclusion at the end of the 2022-23 season," the club said in a
widely expected announcement.
The club
said the 35-year-old would play some role in the Ligue 1 match against Clermont
at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.
The
Argentinian was signed two seasons ago from Barcelona to help PSG win an
elusive Champions League, but he failed in that aim.
The French
club were beaten in the Champions League last 16 by Real Madrid last season and
suffered the same fate this year at Bayern Munich's hands.
Messi, who
has won the Ballon d'Or seven times, has earned an estimated annual salary of
30 million euros ($32.1 million) after tax at Qatar-backed PSG.
He led
Argentina to victory against France in the World Cup final in Qatar in
December.
But having
poured his efforts into that long-awaited triumph for his country, his was
unable to lead PSG past Bayern in the Champions League.
Messi was
even jeered by some supporters at the Parc des Princes despite scoring 32 goals
in 74 games for PSG before Saturday's final match.
His
relationship with the club soured further earlier this season when he skipped
training for an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia to fulfil his commitments as
a tourism ambassador for the Gulf state.
A one-week
suspension followed, and there was no prospect of Messi signing a new deal in
Paris after that.
Barcelona,
the club where he has played most of his career, would love him to return but
the possibility has appeared to be fading in recent weeks.
Instead,
Saudi Arabia might be his next destination.
A source
with knowledge of the Saudi negotiations told AFP last month that it was a
"done deal" for him to play in the Saudi Arabian league, although
Messi's father Jorge denied then that his son had decided his next destination.
Inter Miami
have also reportedly made an offer to take him to Major League Soccer.
After all
he won at Barcelona, and his World Cup triumph with Argentina, the French
league may not mean that much to Messi when he looks back on his career.
As journalist Vincent Deluc noted in France's leading sports daily L'Equipe: "PSG have not been better than they were before because of him... and he seemed to have as much desire to play in Ligue 1 as he did to go to the dentist."
Nevertheless,
Messi has still left his mark on those who have worked with him and come up against
him.
He was
nominated for this season's French player of the year prize, even if he missed
out on the award to PSG forward Kylian Mbappe.
"I
have had the privilege to coach the best player in the history of
football," said PSG boss Christophe Galtier this week.
"This
year he has been an important part of the team. I have never thought that the
criticism of him was justified at all, when he is 35 and there is a World Cup
in the middle of the season and yet I think he has scored or set up more than 40
goals in all competitions.
"It
has been a great privilege not to coach him but to accompany him throughout the
season."
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