(Paris) The departure of Lionel Messi from Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season is now “much more likely, but not certain”, we learned on Tuesday from a source close to the club, suggesting a change of direction of the club.
“The dynamic has completely changed with PSG pushing less to renew, the attitude of the supporters has completely changed the game,” according to this source.
Whistles against the Argentinian came down from the stands on Sunday in the lost match against Lyon (1-0), where he only on rare occasions showed his genius and sometimes played while walking.
The so prestigious “MNM” Messi-Neymar-Kylian Mbappé could end in a sporting failure: with its magic trio, PSG only won one French Championship. He is well placed to win it again this season, but remains on two defeats in a row at home, against Rennes (2-0) then Lyon.
Paris were eliminated twice in a row in the knockout stages of the Champions League and failed to win the Coupe de France. Messi has especially expanded his record by finally winning the World Cup.
On the return from his triumph in Doha, the captain of Argentina, who will be 36 years old in June, seemed however rather to be moving towards an extension. But since then his performances have declined and a relative disenchantment with the public has set in.
Besides, the superstar’s transplant seems never to have fully taken, despite some nice moments, his goal against Manchester City in the fall of 2021 or a last-second free kick against Lille (4-3), on February 19 , a night when he hadn’t shown much else, but delivered victory as champion, a good summary of his on-and-off genius in Paris.
But since his world title, won in the final against Kylian Mbappé’s France (3-3, 4 t. a. b. to 2), Messi has been less brilliant with PSG. For example, like other teammates, he missed out on his Champions League round of 16 against Bayern Munich (1-0/2-0).
The Qatari owners haven’t lost sight of the benefits of having the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner under contract. His arrival in Paris, where he had been welcomed like an emperor, helped expose Ligue 1, boosted merchandising and caused the club to be talked about around the world.
But the situation has turned around, and PSG is preparing to change its sports policy, around its star Kylian Mbappé, a less “bling-bling” project and more oriented towards the breeding ground of Île-de-France, second world “producer” of professional footballers after the region of São Paulo (Brazil).
Negotiations to extend his contract, which runs until 2024, should occupy the Parisian summer, which must also think about the future of his coach, Christophe Galtier, and his football adviser, Luis Campos.
With or without them, PSG “wants to carry out a complete cultural transformation”, explains a close friend of the club’s management.
“Letting Messi go would be a continuation of that cultural shift,” the source explains, “but the fans are going to have to adapt, because you can’t have both. If you opt for youth, it means that the results will not be automatic. They’ll have to be patient.”
The future of the Parisian N.30 is not yet sealed, discussions continue. But L’Équipe titles “In the process of divorce” between PSG and Messi, and for RMC, “he will not be Parisian next season, unless Doha reverses the table”.
If he left, Messi could return to FC Barcelona, from which PSG snatched him in 2021 after a spectacular operation, or join the wealthy Saudi championship, where his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo plays, or even MLS North- American, where Inter Miami would like to bring him.
On Friday, a Barça official, Rafael Yuste, admitted that “there are contacts with Messi”, although he immediately tempered his remarks, specifying that there are no active plans for him. a return to Catalonia of the Argentine star.
Messi seems further and further away from Paris…
