'Lionel Messi Prepared To Leave PSG If French Giants Don't Win UEFA Champions League'
Lionel Messi left Barcelona last year in a sensational free-transfer move to join PSG. He is supposed to stay in Paris until at least June 2023. But according to former Barca midfielder Lobo Carrasco, the Argentinean is ready to quit.
Trouble seems to be brewing in Paris Saint-Germain. The French giants could soon lose Lionel Messi if they fail to win the UEFA Champions League this season. (more football news)
Messi left Barcelona last year in a sensational free-transfer move to join PSG. He is to remain in Paris until at least June 2023. But according to former Barcelona midfielder Lobo Carrasco, Argentina is ready to leave.
The Ballon d'Or-the Best FIFA double is likely to be completed in 34 years, but the return to the field with the new club has been scant in the first six months. And he is struggling to establish a strong foothold in France.
Messi has scored only once in Ligue 1 in 11 matches after the club's debut delay and failing to hit the 20-goal mark in the domestic league are increasingly likely. This will be Messi's first time since the 2007–08 season.
As such, winning the Champions League is the only incentive for Messi, with Ligue 1 being only a minor consolation.
Carrasco, who spent more than a decade with Barcelona, claimed Messi does not regret leaving the Catalan, but the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner will always remember 'modus vivendi' the way he did at Barcelona. lived life in
"Messi will always miss his "modus vivendi" in Barcelona," Carrasco told El Chiringueto TV.
PSG, having dominated French football for so long, are obsessed with the Champions League. But they persist in Europe as well. The PSG hierarchy believes Lionel Messi's arrival is the final piece of the puzzle. They were closest to winning the world's biggest club trophy in 2020, when they lost to Bayern Munich in the final.
The 62-year-old former Spain winger said, "If PSG doesn't win the Champions League, it's going to be a long year."
Messi, who won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11 and 2014–15, will appear in the Round of 16 when PSG face Real Madrid. PSG were initially drawn to play Manchester United.
Meanwhile reports also claimed that Messi allegedly "insulted" PSG boss and fellow Argentine Mauricio Pochettino by not sharing his COVID-19 positive status.
Reports in French media claimed that the former Tottenham Hotspur manager only came to know about Messi's positive case through a third party.
And former PSG winger Jerome Rothen claimed it was a "very shocking" move from Messi.
"The coach has to be above everyone else, it doesn't matter whether he's a star or a young player - the boss has to be the head of the times.
"Pochettino was not updated about where Messi is, and that tells a lot. It's not a good thing and I think it's very shocking from Messi," Rothen told Radio Montecarlo.
