UPDATE: Lionel Messi receives formal PSG two-year contract offer after Barcelona exit
Report: Paris Saint-Germain has offered Messi an initial two-year deal and the six-time Ballon d’Or winner and his representatives are now reviewing and considering it carefully.
Messi also has two other potential options after leaving Barcelona but PSG remain the favourites to sign him.
Barcelona announced Messi would not continue at the club after they were unable to fulfil a new contract that had been agreed with the player due to “financial and structural obstacles”.
The Argentina international has spoken directly with PSG head coach Mauricio Pochettino this week about moving to the French capital.
Asked if PSG will be his next move at his farewell news conference on Sunday, Messi said: “That is one possibility, to reach those heights.
“I’ve got nothing confirmed with anybody. I had a lot of calls, a lot of interested clubs. At the moment, nothing is closed, but we are talking about a lot of things.”
Messi said he did not want to leave Barcelona in an emotional farewell news conference on Sunday.
Messi was in tears as he received a standing ovation in his final Barcelona press conference to announce the end of his 21 years with the club.
“This year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay at home, that’s what we all wanted more than anything,” said Messi.
“We’d always made this our own, we were at home. We thought we would be staying here in Barcelona. But today, we have to say goodbye to all of this.”
Barcelona was forced to let star player Lionel Messi leave the club because his high wages coupled with strict La Liga financial rules could have jeopardised its future, President Joan Laporta said on Friday.
Both the club, which has suffered steep losses recently, and 34-year-old Messi had wanted to sign a new contract. But the Argentine’s deal would have taken salaries to 110% of the club’s earnings, a financially risky move given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Laporta said.
“The club is above everything – even above the best player in the world,” Laporta told a news conference.
“We reached agreement but couldn’t formalise it, because of the club’s economic situation, which means we can’t register the player due to salary limits,” he said.
Without Messi’s wages, salaries would account for 95% of Barcelona’s income, while ideally, they should not exceed 70%, “so there’s still a lot of work to be done”, Laporta said.
Messi had wanted to sign a new contract at Barcelona on reduced terms, reportedly 50% below his latest pay, but the club was unable to come up with an arrangement that also complied with the financial rules of Spain’s La Liga competition.
