Speculation linking Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain gathered pace on Friday due to information released by ESPN France and carried by Diario Sport.
Leonardo, PSG’s sporting director, and Neymar, their star player, have allegedly been discussing the possibility of bringing Messi to the French capital since last summer.
Neymar dropped a bomb during the week when he said that he expected to be playing with Messi next year, reuniting from their time at Barcelona together.
The wheels have been in motion, apparently, ever since Messi communicated his desire to leave the Catalan club last summer.
Neymar contacted Leonardo so that PSG could examine the possibilities of bringing him in immediately, and while the deal couldn’t be done last summer, the French club have remained attentive to his situation.
Messi will be able to pre-sign a contract with whomever he chooses from January 1st given that his contract expires at the end of June.
The presidential election at Barcelona, scheduled for January 24th, is said to be paramount in Messi’s decision of whether to stay or go.
Neymar has spent the majority of his professional career in Spain with Barcelona, where he formed part of the lethal MSN strike force alongside Messi and Luis Suarez.
He joined the Catalans in 2013 from Santos and won two La Liga titles, three Copa del Reys, one Spanish Super Cup, one Club World Cup and one Champions League at Camp Nou before joining PSG in a record €200m deal in 2017.
Messi, despite evidently slowing down as he begins to enter his mid-30s, registered 31 goals and 27 assists last season, from 44 appearances. The season before he scored 51 goals and contributed 20 assists from 50 games.
Featured image courtesy of Goal.
