PSG wait impatiently for Messi as Barcelona weeps

People gather outside the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris yesterday for the expected arrival of Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi. (AFP)

• Paris is expected to be Messi’s next destination after his tearful departure from the club he represented for 17 years France was waiting impatiently for Lionel Messi with supporters gathering outside Paris Saint-Germain’s ground yesterday hoping to see the Argentine who is expected to join the Qatar-owned club after his exit from Barcelona. PSG fans stood at the entrance to the Parc des Princes in the hope the 34-year-old superstar might appear, while others gathered at Le Bourget airport to the north of the French capital just in case Messi landed there. Paris is expected to be Messi’s next destination after his tearful departure from the club he has represented throughout the 17 years of his glittering professional career. However yesterday journalists spotted him still at his home near Barcelona alongside his family as well as his friend and former teammate, Luis Suarez. Following last week’s announcement by Barca that they could not afford to keep their all-time top goal-scorer, PSG emerged as the favourites to sign Messi. They see him as the missing piece in their jigsaw as they chase the Champions League, the trophy they want more than anything else. The club have been ready since Sunday to welcome Messi and French media reported yesterday that it was a matter of when, not if he arrives. “It only seems to be a matter of hours,” suggested sports daily L’Equipe, which proclaimed “we are entering into the most incredible days in the history of the French championship.” Before signing any contract in Paris, Messi will first have to undergo a medical examination. The player conceded at his tearful farewell news conference in Barcelona on Sunday that joining PSG was a “possibility”. In reality, with Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City having ruled themselves out, they are about the only club who can afford what is expected to be a deal worth 35mn euros ($41mn) a year. “I gave everything for Barcelona from the first day that I arrived right to the last. I never imagined having to say goodbye,” Messi said. “I have still not come to terms with the reality of leaving this club now — I love this club.” He leaves Barcelona with 672 goals in 778 appearances, a record tally for one club. Messi won 35 trophies at the Camp Nou after joining Bara aged 13 and deserved a better farewell — his last appearance came in May’s 2-1 home defeat behind closed doors against Celta Vigo. His trophy tally includes four Champions League and 10 La Liga titles. “The greatest of all, you can surpass me whenever you want,” wrote Messi’s old Barcelona teammate Dani Alves — who won the 43rd honour of his career with Brazil at the Olympics — in an Instagram message. Yesterday morning, the images of the Argentinian in tears leapt out from the pages of all the Spanish sports dailies such as Marca, AS and Sport. One group of Barcelona fans, represented by a Parisian lawyer, announced their intention to lodge a complaint with the European Commission in connection with the rules of financial fair play that Barcelona and PSG must follow. Despite offering to cut his salary by half to seal a new five-year contract which a club carrying debts of 1.2bn euros and the player had agreed on, the deal foundered on strict Spanish league salary cap rules. Messi’s arrival would make PSG even more obvious favourites to reclaim a French title they missed out on last season to Lille. Some in Ligue 1 have mixed feelings about the impending arrival of arguably the greatest player of all time. “It’s extraordinary for Ligue 1,” said Metz coach Frederic Antonetti. “But for a purist like me, Messi should have finished his career at Barcelona.” This summer PSG have already added veteran Spanish defender Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, the star of Euro 2020. They have also signed Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, snatching the Dutchman from under the noses of Barcelona, and spent 60mn euros on Inter Milan right-back Achraf Hakimi, who scored on his league debut at the weekend. An added attraction in moving to Paris is that coach Mauricio Pochettino, like Messi, started his career at Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario, Argentina. All going to plan he could be unveiled to supporters on Saturday, when PSG play at home to Strasbourg and a full house of nearly 48,000 will be allowed in for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic struck 18 months ago. Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi holds a press conference at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Sunday. (AFP)   Cost-benefit weighs in favour of Messi at PSG Paris: Barcelona could not afford to keep Lionel Messi but Paris Saint-Germain have made their move for the 34-year-old and, while the cost of the deal may be astronomical, it is still likely to be a very smart bit of business if or when it goes through. Barca — swimming in debt of 1.2bn euros ($1.4bn) — ultimately found themselves in a no-win situation with their talisman. Keeping him would have maintained salaries at an untenable 110% of revenue. Even letting him go leaves that figure at 95% with the Catalan club a prime example of how living beyond one’s means eventually ends in the tears Messi shed Sunday in confirming his departure, Barca unable to defy financial gravity any longer. An annual salary north of 70mn euros ($82mn) net per season, while breaking Spanish league salary cap requirements, was a price that made sense for Barcelona. Marc Ciria, director general of Diagonal Inversiones consultancy, recently calculated Messi generated some 235mn euros more than he earned over the past four years. Qatari-owned PSG, who bought Messi’s close friend Neymar from Barcelona for 222mn euros in 2017, can afford the Argentinian wizard, who they see as the final piece in the jigsaw to land a first Champions League crown. Messi, who had agreed to a 50% wage cut with Barcelona and a five-year deal taking him to the age of 39, is reputedly being offered some 40mn euros a year over two seasons in Paris with the possibility of a third. Neymar, whose transfer will ultimately cost PSG more than 500mn euros wages included, earns an after-tax salary of 30mn euros annually according to documents released in 2018 by Football Leaks. Messi boosts overall annual earnings to around 110mn euros thanks to lucrative sponsorships with the likes of Pepsi and Adidas, ahead of the likes of long-time La Liga rival Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James or Roger Federer. “We’re on another planet here — it’s stratospheric” with Messi, says sports marketing analyst Virgile Caillet, adding a putative arrival at the Parc des Princes would constitute “an event such as (has happened) only once or twice in football — with (Diego) Maradona when he signed for Napoli or (Zinedine) Zidane going to Real.” PSG have essentially taken over the Real Madrid mantle of the home for “galacticos” — megastars whose global status lifts their clubs to another level.   The recent relaxation of UEFA’s financial fair play rules because of the pandemic helps too. “That leaves more margin than previously,” says Christophe Lepetit, director of France’s Centre for the Law and Economics of Sport in Limoges. Getting Messi aboard would mean PSG “developing new marketing approaches. That dovetails perfectly with the PSG strategy,” says Caillet. “Messi is a cast-iron guarantee. From the moment you recruit him you have a number of additional revenue streams which flow almost automatically: derivative merchandise, ticketing, partnerships. It’s an unmissable opportunity.” A further plus compared with the 400mn euros shelled out in 2017 to buy Neymar and Kylian Mbappe is the fact PSG don’t have to pay a transfer fee for the out-of-contract Messi. “In terms of amortisation (costs) there is just the salary — I’d say that makes it much more affordable,” smiled Caillet. A decade into their ownership of PSG, Qatar Sports Investments have pushed a policy of capturing big names — even those in the twilight of their careers, notably David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. PSG are the seventh-richest club in the world according to the most recent Deloitte Football Money League, still trailing the likes of Barca, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United. For Caillet, Messi will lift them to even greater heights on and off the pitch. “A second stage was needed for the PSG rocket. Messi will bring an acceleration,” says Caillet. “It seems paradoxical given his age — but Messi incarnates PSG’s future both economically and in sporting terms,” says Caillet.