The Parisians were said to be one of the favorites to the Argentine after the 34-year-old decided to issue a formal transfer request to FC Barcelona last summer. The move to either Manchester City or Paris Saint Germain did not materialize, and the Argentine was forced to stay at the Camp Nou for another season.
Times have changed, though. Messi is currently in red-hot form and recently led Argentina to the Copa America title. The forward also won the Copa Del Rey last season with the Blaugrana, and he is set to stay at.
His new contract is said to be ready, but the board need to settle their books before they can officially register him as one of their new signings. Messi is officially a free agent, and thus he needs to be registered with the La Liga once again.
With the agreement having been reached between the club and Messi’s agent Jorge Messi, Le Parisien understands that the former Ligue 1 champions, PSG have stopped pursuing Messi.
The French outlet understands that PSG will find it difficult to afford Messi’s wages despite practically having to pay no transfer fee to secure his signature. The former Ligue 1 champions have already secured the signings of Geroginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos, and Achraf Hakimi this summer.
While this may considerably lessen the pressure on Barcelona to finalize and announce the 34-year-old’s extension, the fact remains that Barcelona have got work to do before they get to that point.
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Antoine Griezmann has been linked with a move away from the club despite being considered as ‘untouchable’ at the start of the summer window. The Frenchman has been linked with a move to Manchester City, but he is said to prefer a move back to his old club Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona are looking to offload the 30-year-old to lighten their wage bill and he is expected to return to Camp Nou on July 20 after the completion of his break. His future is likely to be clearer then.
It is either that or Barcelona will need to ask the top three earners in their ranks to take a 40% pay-cut to accommodate Messi. President Joan Laporta remains optimistic about the completion of the deal, though. The newly-elected president is confident of Messi staying at Barcelona for the next two seasons with an option for a third.
