Ligue 1 table-toppers Paris Saint-Germain have secured a new sponsorship which will see the senior side wear sleeves with GOAT written on them. It is also the unofficial moniker for their attacker Lionel Messi, who is regarded by many to be the greatest footballer in history.
The company called ‘GOAT’ has signed a new contract with the club as an official partner until 2025. From July 1, the brand name will be sported on the sleeves of PSG’s training, warm-up as well as matchday jerseys. According to L’Equipe, the deal will see the club earn a total of 50 million euros.
GOAT is a next-generation lifestyle platform that was founded in 2015 and offers footwear, luxury apparel, and accessories through primary as well as resale markets. They apparently have 30 million members and 600,000 sellers across 170 countries on their platform, and the deal with PSG holds a lot of strategic value as the Parisian club have been pushing the boundaries for fashion, youth appeal and luxury products with their sponsorships.
Messi was one of the models for the new design alongside Neymar, Marco Verratti, Presnel Kimpembe, Achraf Hakimi, and the absence of Kylian Mbappe was one of the biggest takeaways from the promotion. The Frenchman has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid as his current contract runs out in June.
The club’s chief partnerships officer, Marc Armstrong, has said of the union:
“We are delighted to welcome GOAT into the Paris Saint-Germain family. GOAT is the ideal partner for the club. It reinforces our position as an icon of sport and style with fans around the world. Together, we will develop exciting and creative experiences to delight fans everywhere.”
In the world of sports and urban culture, the word GOAT stands for ‘greatest of all time.’ Messi has been unofficially called the GOAT of the sport by fans, experts, peers, managers and journalists.
Messi has won the most Ballon d’Ors in history (7), and also won multiple domestic league titles in Spain (25), Champions Leagues (4), FIFA Club World Cups (3) and recently became a continental champion with Argentina in the 2020 Copa America. However, the 34-year-old is yet to win a single trophy with the Parisians, whom he joined in August 2021, bringing an end to his 17-year-long association with Barcelona.
