The brother of Paris Saint-Germain’s owner, the Emir of Qatar, has claimed a deal to bring Lionel Messi to the Ligue 1 outfit is complete.
Barcelona shocked the world on Thursday when they confirmed their all-time record goalscorer would not be signing a new deal at Camp Nou, subsequently bringing to an end his 21-year relationship with the club.
Negotiations are officially concluded. And announce later #Messi #Paris_Saint_Germain pic.twitter.com/BxlmCfARII
— خلـــيفة بـــن حمـــد آلــ ثانــــــي (@khm_althani) August 6, 2021
Att1...
Messi has been a free agent since his contract with the Blaugrana expired while away on international duty at Copa America with Argentina, though Barça president Joan Laporta had always insisted the matter was in hand and that fresh terms would be penned this summer.
Barcelona claimed financial restraints had prevented them from retaining Messi’s services, with Laporta holding a press conference on Friday morning to quash any hope of the club making a last-ditch bid to re-sign the Argentina international.
Naturally, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s availability has alerted the attention of every club in the world with the financial muscle to be able to sign him, and having emerged as frontrunners to secure his signature it now seems PSG will win the race.
Khalid bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the brother of the French side’s owner, has taken to Twitter to claim a deal for Messi has already been completed and that an announcement will be made very shortly.
Should the deal be confirmed it would be just the latest in a long line of impressive free transfers to have been completed by PSG this summer, with Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum and Gianluigi Donnarumma already arriving at the club for free this summer.
Along with a host of MLS clubs, Premier League champions Manchester City were heavily linked with a move for Messi when news of his Barcelona departure emerged.
Initial reports suggested Pep Guardiola was not interested in a reunion with the Argentinian, though said reports have since been contradicted by claims the City Group have tabled a three-year deal, with the first two years to be played at Manchester City before a final year at New York City.
Whether Guardiola was interested in signing Messi we may never know, because right now it seems as though he’s destined to be playing his football in France next season.
