LIONEL MESSI. The Argentine striker from PSG has been suspended by club management after an unauthorized trip. An unprecedented sanction which could sign the next departure of Lionel Messi from the Parisian club.
It is a decision that could precipitate the divorce between Lionel Messi and PSG. The French club have decided to suspend the Argentine star for two weeks, depriving the striker of the next Champions League matches and part of his salary. The reason for this unprecedented sanction decided by the Qatari president of PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, and his sports adviser Luis Campos, is none other than Lionel Messi’s short trip to Saudi Arabia. The Argentinian, who was to honor his contract to promote tourism in the neighboring country and rival of Qatar, missed the call during training for the Parisian club on Monday.
A noticeable absence which did not please the leaders of the club, who had not given their agreement to authorize the displacement of Lionel Messi. The Argentinian seems to be playing it alone since coach Christophe Galtier and the other PSG players were also unaware of the international star’s trip. A behavior against which the club does not want to bend and is firm.
Lionel Messi should therefore not return to the field with May 21. These are therefore two matches that will be played without the presence of the Argentine striker: the one against Troyes scheduled for Sunday May 7 and the one against AC Ajaccio organized on May 13. The footballer will also be excluded from training for fifteen days.
The sanction will be lifted within a fortnight but it may have repercussions on the player’s future with PSG. With the Argentinian’s contract running out at the end of the season, renewed trust between Lionel Messi and the club’s Qatari bosses is far from guaranteed.
Argentinian by birth, Lionel Messi touched his first balls at Grandioli FC, the club where his father trained. Between 1994 and 2000, it was with the formation of Newell’s Old Boys that he continued his training as a footballer and hatched, managing to be spotted in Europe. It was FC Barcelona who set their sights on the then 13-year-old player. Year after year, he asserted himself within the Catalan club: Barça junior, Barça C, Barça B… then the big Barça, with whom he started on October 16, 2004 during a derby against Espanyol de Barcelona. Then opens a real fairy tale: 17 seasons with the Blaugranas, 778 matches, 672 goals, records and titles in spades… Messi becomes the idol of Camp Nou and the world of football, obsessed with his rivalry with a another big name of the moment: Cristiano Ronaldo. 10 Spanish championships with Barça, four Champions League, three Club World Cups or seven King’s Cups, the Spanish Cup… the story is idyllic and allowed him to win, during those years, six golden balls, including four consecutively. If he seemed forever linked to Barça, Messi finally had to change his shirt. In the summer of 2021, Barcelona can no longer afford the salary of the Pulga. Exit the red and blue of the Catalan club, hello red and blue… of Paris Saint-Germain.
Lionel Messi joins PSG on Tuesday August 10, 2021. This is a huge blow for the Parisian club which is entering a new era with the arrival of the Argentinian. He very quickly finds his place in the game system and continues the matches, even if he is less decisive than with Barça. Nevertheless, the attacking trio formed with Mbappé and Neymar shakes many defenses. Coming with the aim of turning PSG over in the Champions League, he cannot prevent the capital club from being eliminated in the round of 16 of the 2021-2022 edition against Real Madrid (2-3, score cumulative).
After Maradona, Argentina therefore inherited another footballing genius in the person of Lionel Messi. But with the selection, the relationship of the Pulga has not always been good. There have been many meetings where the striker has not shone and displayed a level of play below his performance with Barça. The differences in context between daily club life and international periods have often been felt, even if Messi has always displayed a certain efficiency. His skill in front of goal allowed him to stick 98 goals to his opponents, making the selection record. Unhappy finalist of the World Cup in 2014 and the Copa America three times, Messi had to wait until 2021 to triumph with the Albiceleste, during the Copa America, before being crowned world champion in 2022. Also note a coronation at the Olympics of 2008.
Paris Saint-Germain had to take out the checkbook to attract the planetary star to its ranks. According to the Spanish journalist Guillem Balague, author of a biography on the Argentine number 10, Lionel Messi would receive 30 million euros net per year at PSG.
