Messi is Paris: the Argentinian superstar landed in Paris on Tuesday afternoon, where hundreds of supporters gave a royal welcome to the future Paris SG player at the airport, who must take the club to a new sporting dimension and economical.
On his arrival at Le Bourget airport, the player, dressed in a "
Here is Paris
"
t-shirt
, greeted fans cheering him from a window.
Hundreds of fans came to welcome the star at Le Bourget airport.
YVES HERMAN / REUTERS
The plane carrying him with his family landed around 3:30 p.m. At the same time, PSG posted on social networks a short 13-second video full of references to the striker's career, such as his six Golden Balls and the Argentine flag, placed between the shirts of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. . This detail is not trivial, the French is still negotiating an extension of his contract.
Messi, 34, will sign up for PSG after having satisfied his medical examination.
His father and advisor, Jorge Messi, confirmed it around noon, with a
laconic
"
yes
", to Spanish journalists who asked him at Barcelona airport if his son was going to sign for the capital club.
As the Argentinian clan got ready to take off, the giant portrait of the "Pulga" was unhooked from the walls of Camp Nou, the stadium where the player wrote his legend, since he arrived there. age 13.
We turn the Messi page in Barcelona.
NACHO DOCE / REUTERS
Meanwhile, Paris was busy preparing to welcome one of the best footballers in history. At the Parc des Princes, employees cleaned and set up the red carpet of the VIP entrance to the stadium where the player should also pass. “
It only happens once in a lifetime. This is one of the biggest transfers in history,
”says Johlan Slama, a BTS student, who came with a friend in front of the Parisian enclosure.
“
Messimania
” has seized Paris since the player recognized Sunday that a signing at PSG was a “
possibility
”.
The players in Ligue 1, too, shared their enthusiasm during the weekend as to the probable arrival of the six-fold Golden Ball which will give a press conference on Wednesday morning.
To read also: Messi in Paris?
For Ligue 1 coaches and players, it's a big yes
“He's the strongest player in the world.
I am moved and happy to have him on our team ”
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Just like the Parisian players: “
He is the strongest player in the world. I am moved and happy to have him in our team,
”said Italian goalkeeper European champion Gianluigi Donnarumma in an interview broadcast Tuesday by Sky Italia. "
Reunited again
," wrote on Instagram Neymar, who rubbed shoulders with Messi at Barça between 2013 and 2017.
With Kylian Mbappé, if he were to stay, “
Ney
” and “
Leo
” would form one of the most formidable attacking trios which would recall the MSN of their Barcelona era, alongside Luis Suarez.
The French press mentions for Messi a contract of at least two years, with a net annual salary of around 40 million euros.
Such emoluments would place him at the level of Neymar (36 million euros), the highest paid footballer in the history of French football.
The Mbappé question
Sunday, he dedicated his last weekend as a free player to Barça.
In the bowels of Camp Nou where he had written his legend, Messi, in tears, proclaimed his love for the club where he arrived at 13 years old.
Asked about the responsibility for this divorce, his father Jorge Messi replied Tuesday: "
See that with the club
".
Scenes of liesses observed at the Parc des Princes in the afternoon.
ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI / AFP
"
I had never imagined my farewell because the truth is that I did not think of it
", Messi told him, revealing that he had offered to cut his salary in half to be able to stay.
But Barca have given up on extending their huge contract, which expired in June, which placed too high a risk on their bloodless finances.
The opportunity was too good for PSG, whose wealthy Qatari owner QSI is in perpetual pursuit of superstars to develop his brand.
To read also: In duet with Mbappé, Di Maria on the bench ... How will PSG play with Messi?
The financial strength of QSI and the relaxation of UEFA's financial fair play rules made possible an operation that no one imagined at the start of the summer. He will find in Paris players he is close to, starting with Neymar, but also Angel Di Maria, with whom he has just won the Copa America. Their goal: to win the Champions League, the supreme goal set by QSI who is waiting to lift this trophy that Messi has won four times already.
With or without Mbappé? In Spain, the sports daily AS, chose to headline on Mbappé: seeing him go to Real Madrid "
it's possible
". The case of the French striker, at the end of the contract in June 2022, remains unresolved. But the image, in the welcome video broadcast by PSG, of the Argentinian flag between the shirts of Neymar and Mbappé, is there a clue that it would stay? They would then form one of the most impressive tridents in football history.
