Lionel Messi is poised to accept a new contract offer from Paris Saint-Germain - but the deal is unlikely to be the last of the Argentine superstar’s club career.
Messi joined the French club on a two-year contract in the summer of 2021 after Barcelona were unable to register a new contract for the playmaker due to their financial situation. After a difficult debut campaign in Paris, he has netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists this term and has spoken of his happiness at adapting to life in France this term.
Messi has been refusing to answer phone calls made on behalf of a negotiator close to Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who is desperate for the Argentine star to return to the Camp Nou but his negotiating tactic has so far proven unsuccessful.
Laporta had planned to meet with his former star player during his visit to the Ballon d'Or awards in Paris in October, but such attempts were unsuccessful. MLS club Inter Miami are also in pursuit of the Argentine, but despite reports that a deal had been agreed upon at the end of the current season – Messi looks set to remain in Paris. For now.
Messi, who will celebrate his 36 th birthday next summer, will pen a new deal at the Parc des Princes. As outlined by Marca, this is likely to be a further year onto Messi’s current contract – taking his time at the club through to the summer of 2024.
PSG’s intention is for people to associate the Argentine superstar with their club and not to Barcelona. They believe that a third season could be decisive in this aspect and they would be happy for him to retire elsewhere, as long as that is not at Barcelona.
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The club are said to believe that Messi will hang up his boots at a later stage in his career and not in European football, with MLS a likely future destination for him. However, PSG believe that his career at the ‘top level’ will end at the Parc des Princes.
They plan to ensure his eventual exit is marketed as Paris being the closing chapter of his career at the highest level even if he continues to play either in the MLS or back in Argentina. They are already plotting how they can manage that exit process to strengthen PSG's image.
Last year, Messi was not happy in Paris; struggling to grasp the French language with his young family, who were happy with their life in Barcelona prior to the club no longer be able to renew his contract – with the last-minute nature of his departure seemingly causing friction between the player and the club’s board.
"I like Paris a lot more now, I have discovered the city and I find it magnificent," Messi explained, in quotes carried by Le Parisien last month. "In the first year, there was a huge change. Things happened very suddenly, it was not my objective to leave Barcelona, and everything about it was very abrupt.
"After this long period and the difficult times, I am happy to live where I live, and my family and I are enjoying Paris. It was hard at the start, we had stayed all our lives in the same place, I had never moved, and I did not know what it was like to leave.
"We did not expect this, it happened very quickly, and we had to leave Barcelona overnight. We found ourselves in a new environment. We had our life in Barcelona, our friends, our habits, and we found ourselves in a different place, with another language, another football, another climate, I suffered a lot from that. It was hard. But, today, I enjoy everything including football."
