This morning, reports emerged from Gerard Romero that contrary to month-old reports that a renewal was verbally agreed, Leo Messi has no intention of renewing his contract at PSG and PSG are pessimistic about the situation. Is this Laporta PR? Is this legitimate? Here is my view of the Leo Messi saga.
In my opinion, while nothing should be celebrated yet, there is reason to feel cautiously optimistic about a Messi return. Leo Messi has many reasons to reject PSG for Barça, of which I’ll explain later.
However, there’s a reason I said cautiously optimistic and not fully optimistic. Fabrizio Romano himself said that Messi had a verbal agreement with PSG, and that Barça never even held formal talks with the player. While there’s been no follow up and no announcement, with the player now free to hold talks or agree terms to leave PSG at the end of his deal, Les Parisiens have reason to hurry up his renewal.
Another reason is that even if he leaves PSG, Barça may not necessarily be his first choice. Both Manchester City and Inter Miami may make a move before the Blaugrana, who seem to be more focused on 17-year-old Vítor Roque’s signing at the moment. However, reports have said that “Lionel Messi isn’t considering money in his decision, he wants to enjoy football and be happy.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants to come back, though.
Argentine journalist Veronica Brunati had her say on this situation. She denies reports that Laporta called Messi and that part of the board doesn’t want the deal to happen, but that Messi hasn’t confirmed his intention to renew yet and that anything can happen.
Journalists and reports from Paris and covering PSG itself have all agreed on one thing: Messi’s plan hasn’t changed, and he still will renew with PSG. They believe it’s a diversion from Barcelona (whatever that means) and nothing has changed from December’s reports.
Now, what might make Leo Messi change his mind on PSG is 3 things, according to journalists. The first is his relationship with Christophe Gaultier, as reports say that although Gaultier is in full praise of Messi in the media, they haven’t seen eye-to-eye after he was made manager last summer. He also has a disconnect from the fans, media, and the city of Paris. His relationship with the fans has been bad ever since he was booed last season vs Bordeaux. The media was also on his back after poor Ligue 1 performances last season, and neither are too fond of him after his World Cup final win vs France last month. His family hasn’t settled in Paris either, with his kids wanting to go back to Barcelona, where their friends are. The last reason is Kylian Mbappé’s control of the club ever since his contract renewal back in May. Because Mbappé has the power to control transfers, none of the players have liked the deal, Messi included.
Messi may also join Barça, in my opinion, because of the fans, who still love him dearly and the warm environment at the club rather than the coldness of PSG, the prospect of mentoring players such as Gavi, Pedri, Fati, and Balde, and finishing his time at the club that was his team for 90% of his career in a better way.
In the end, I would love to see Messi back in the Blaugrana colours in 2023-24 season and beyond, but not all fairy tales happen, and we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next 5.5 months. I’m Jim James, and until next time.