PSG working on signing Messi – Coach

Paris Saint-Germain have made contact with Lionel Messi over a potential move, Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed.

ESPN quoted sources as saying that the player’s arrival could have an impact on the futures of Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba.

According to ESPN, PSG reached out to Messi on Thursday following the unexpected announcement from Barca that he would not be signing a new deal with them.
PSG sporting director Leonardo and chairman Nasser al Khelaifi are heavily involved in the discussions with Messi, having been in contact with his father, Jorge, for some time.

- Advertisement -

Speaking at a news conference ahead of PSG’s opening game of the Ligue 1 season, Pochettino confirmed that information. “Of course [signing Messi] is a possibility,” he said. “The club is working on it and if there is any information we will communicate it as soon as possible.”

Sources added that Messi joining PSG would increase the likelihood of Mbappe, who is out of contract next summer, signing a new long-term deal with the club. This would damage Real Madrid’s hopes of signing the 22-year-old on a free transfer next summer.

- Advertisement -

Messi’s arrival in Ligue 1 would also mean PSG end their interest in signing Manchester United midfielder Pogba, meaning he would run down his contract at Old Trafford before becoming a free agent next summer.

PSG have long been vocal about their wishes to sign Messi since he announced in August 2020 that he wanted to leave Camp Nou. Sources have told ESPN that while on holiday in Ibiza with Messi, PSG’s Neymar was pushing him to join the club. Messi also had conversations with Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes and Marco Verratti on the matter.

PSG owner Tamim bin Hamad is eager to bring Messi to the club and sources have told ESPN that he is being kept informed of all the conversations. Bin Hamad has been keen to sign either Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo since he bought the club in 2011.

However, there will be heavy financial implications for PSG should they manage to entice Messi to the club. While he is a free agent after running down his contract with Barca, the 34-year-old would still command a large contract in terms of wages, commissions, a signing-on fee and bonuses.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta on Friday said he doesn’t want to generate false hope over the chances of Messi returning and added that no one is bigger than the club.

“I don’t want to generate false hope,” Laporta said. “During the course of negotiations, we’ve known of other offers for Messi. There was a time limit, for us and for them, because they need time.

“The leagues are starting. I am not willing to mortgage the club for 50 years for anybody. The decision is made, there is no more margin and the reason is financial fair play. We have a limit when it comes to player salaries.”

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said negotiations to keep Lionel Messi at the club are over and that he does not want to generate “false hope” that the situation could be fixed.

Barca announced on Thursday that Messi, a free agent since his contract expired in June, will not rejoin the club because of financial problems.

Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Laporta explained that the “disastrous” situation inherited from the previous board and LaLiga’s rigid spending limits have made keeping Messi impossible.

Messi, 34, had reached an agreement to sign a new five-year contract at Camp Nou, extending his 21-year link with the club, and Laporta said the forward was devastated that it would not be possible.

“I don’t want to generate false hope,” Laporta said when asked whether the situation was retrievable. “During the course of negotiations, we’ve known of other offers for Messi. There was a time limit, for us and for [Messi’s camp], because they need time. The leagues are starting.

“The negotiations with Messi have ended and it’s brought us here without an agreement because of the salary limit. Leo wanted to stay, so he’s not happy. We all wanted him to stay, but now, like us, he is facing the reality of what’s happened. A reality that can’t be changed.”

Laporta said the only way to keep Messi would have been to accept the deal proposed by LaLiga this week, which would have seen 10% of the league’s business sold to the investment fund CVC Capital Partners.

Weighing up the pros and cons of LaLiga’s agreement with CVC, Laporta said no one is bigger than the club and that accepting the terms of the sale could have put the club at risk in the long term.

READ ALSO: Messi: Top clubs battle to land Barcelona legend, Mbappe to exit PSG?

“It would not be in Barca’s best interests,” he continued. “We were going to receive some money, but we think that accepting it — and affecting our [revenue from] television rights for the next 50 years — is not something we can do [to keep Messi]. It’s too risky. The club is above players, coaches and presidents.”

LaLiga president Javier Tebas, who has been feuding with Laporta and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez over the creation of a European Super League, responded on Twitter.

“Not long ago, you were saying we [LaLiga] were broke,” he wrote. “Now we’re valued at €24.25 billion and there’s access for [clubs] TO GROW, you’re worried about the future income of a league you’d written off as dead.

“You know that the operation with CVC doesn’t mortgage Barca’s television rights for 50 years, what it does is give them more value for all clubs and that way you can MORTGAGE your BANKS and solve the debt problem. That’s how you understood it a few hours ago.”

CVC declined to comment but a source with knowledge of the sale said the reports were “completely wrong” and that the investment fund “continues to support the project.”

Years of mismanagement have led Barca to this point where they are unable to register Messi, their record appearance holder and top goal scorer of all time. Laporta described the situation he has inherited from the previous president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, as a “shipwreck.”

He explained that with Messi, Barca’s wage bill would be 110% of their revenue. Without Messi, it will still be 95% and they have work to do to get it down to the recommended level of 70%.

That made it impossible to register Messi with LaLiga for the upcoming season. The Spanish league set a spending limit for each club. Barca’s was over €600m before the pandemic but fell to €347m last season. Further cuts are expected for the upcoming campaign.

Laporta said an internal audit has only just revealed the true severity of the club’s financial perils, saying that it was “much worse than expected” and that Barca stand to register losses of €487m for the 2020-21 season.

After speaking to the first-team squad and coach Ronald Koeman on Friday at the training ground, the president said everyone must now pull together to lead Barca forward in what he described as “the post-Messi era.”

He said: “There’s sadness, but the players and Ronald are professionals. They have the chance now to show that with their talent they can lead Barca to success.

“It’s time to take on the challenges we set ourselves and to try and win all the competitions we take part in. We demand professionalism and will give maximum support to the players and the coaches in pursuit of excellence.”

Laporta said he was aware Messi has received several offers from other clubs but said he did not know if one of them was Paris Saint-Germain, which has emerged as the favourite to sign the Argentina international.

Despite the gravity of the financial situation, Laporta added that he believes new signings Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia and Emerson Royal can be registered with LaLiga. He said they have all accepted lower salaries and that their situations weren’t comparable to Messi’s.

He also refused to rule out making further signings before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.