Lionel Messi ‘will RUN OUT at PSG this summer’ despite agreeing to stay during the World Cup as his family wants to return to Barcelona and the club need him to take a 25% pay cut on his £25, take 6 million. annual contract
- Lionel Messi is close to leaving Paris Saint-Germain this summer, reports show
- The Argentinian told PSG during the World Cup that he was happy to stay for another year
- But with the club wanting him to cut his wages, Messi could leave this summer
According to reports in France, Lionel Messi is about to change his mind and leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
The superstar’s contract expires at the end of the season and the French giants may offer him an extra year.
During the World Cup in Qatar last winter – where 35-year-old Messi led Argentina to victory – his father Jorge informed PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi that Lionel had agreed to stay.
But now, according to the French outlet L’EquipeMessi and the club are ‘on the verge of parting’, with the veteran set to walk away when the campaign comes to an end after negotiations in recent weeks have actually seen both sides move further apart.
The player’s family wants to return to Barcelona, where he spent his entire career before moving to Paris in 2021.
Lionel Messi (pictured) will change his mind and leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer
Messi’s father Jorge had indicated to PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi (left) during the World Cup in Qatar that his son was willing to stay for another season
The family of the superstar (pictured above) wants to return to Barcelona in Spain
PSG need Messi to take a 25 per cent pay cut on his hugely lucrative £25.6 million a year contract over their difficulties in complying with Financial Fair Play.
Messi also reportedly wants guarantees on the manager and players who will be attacked by the club this summer, with PSG still unable to allay his concerns.
Uncertainty about his future has led fans of the club to vent their frustrations, with home supporters at the Parc des Princes booing him following their home defeat to Lyon.
Boss Christophe Galtier labeled their response as ‘very harsh’ and insisted he ‘gives a lot’ after notching 17 goals and 17 assists this season. But the booing would have had an impact on Al-Khelaifi, who would rather let him go.
Messi’s former club Barcelona would “launch an offensive” to convince the diminutive star to return to Camp Nou as a free agent.
Former Barca striker Thierry Henry admitted he wants Messi to return to Catalonia, and it would give the player Champions League football, which he wouldn’t get at MLS side Inter Miami or in Saudi Arabia.
He added that the boos from PSG fans “will not help” keep the gifted forward in France.
If Messi stays, L’Equipe concludes, it will be on the club’s terms – although neither side seems willing to budge on their negotiating stance.