Messi’s future: PSG accelerates for his renewal and clarifies his desire for world champion

After the consecration to the World Cup in Qatar 2022 and the endless speculations that, especially from Spain, have arisen about a possible return to Barcelona, clarion had reported about the principle of agreement that Lionel Messi had with the management of Paris Saint-Germain for the renewal of his contract expiring next June. This Sunday, the deal was cleared for the first time through the club’s football adviser, louis fields.

“We are negotiating right now” looking for a contract extension of the 35-year-old star player from Rosario, acknowledged the Portuguese, who also expressed what the club’s desire is for the world champion’s future.

“I can’t hide that I would like to have him in this project and that he can continue with us”declared the leader in an interview with the Téléfoot program of the French channel TF1.

“I would be happy if it continued, but at the moment we are in negotiations to try to reach the goal, to continue having Leo Messi with us”complete.

At 35, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has to decide about his future, even if he has already acknowledged that he will be busy with the Argentine national team, at least until the next Copa América 2024.

Last December, a few days after the consecration in Arab lands, Clarín was able to update the status of the negotiation between PSG and Messi.

The mentioned principle of agreement was sealed in a meeting between the president of the club Nasser Al-Khelaifi AND George MessiLeo’s dad and representative, during the World Cup, which served to put the talks that arrived months ago on the table.

When the 35-year-old striker returned from holiday in Rosario, Luis Campos, the club’s sports adviser, knew he would have to finish finalizing his contract amount.

That moment seems to have arrived, to the point of having admitted conversations to make the announcement as soon as possible.

Messi arrived in Paris in 2021 for two seasons (plus an optional one), having spent his entire professional career at Barcelona. After a first year in which it was difficult for him to adapt, he now seems to have found the rhythm of the game and his involvement in the team has definitely changed.

He is happy in football and his family is comfortable and he has found stability after that abrupt and unexpected departure from his home in Barcelona.

In this 2022/23 yes ten goals AND ten assists only for Ligue 1, where his team is the leader and seems to have paved the way to defending the title.

Campos indeed celebrated the impact of the Argentine striker on the Parisian project and cited as an example his performance against Montpellier last Wednesday in Ligue 1 (3-1 victory, with goals from Messi).

“During the interval I told him: ‘Leo, you have to drag the others along with you’, and he told me ‘calm down’. Then he played an exceptional second part of the game”said the PSG sports adviser.

The Champions League, the main goal

Messi’s presence, also author of the comeback against Toulouse (2-1) on Saturday, is good news for PSG in view of the Champions League round of 16 against Bayern Munich on 14 February, where they probably won’t be able to count on the injured kylian mbappe.

“Losing Kylian is clearly difficult, I saw him very sad about his injury”commented Campos, very close to the attacker.

“But I’ve seen him working since morning to speed up his recovery as much as possible. He has the personality of a winner, of a very special person. He’s already the best striker in the world”has completed Portuguese.

Without him, PSG would have needed a reinforcement in the winter transfer market, which ended on 31 January, but the transfer of the Moroccan Hakim Ziech it did not arrive in time, presumably because Chelsea failed to send the necessary documents three times.

“We had the player, we did everything, but as with all signings, we need the subsequent parts to go well. (…) Unfortunately, at the last moment, it didn’t go well with the other side (Chelsea)”Campos complained.

Campos also had words of praise for the team’s third megastar, Brazilian Neymar, who turned 31 on Sunday.

“The truth is that since my arrival at PSG I haven’t had any criticisms to make of Neymar. He’s always punctual, always good-natured. This Neymar is an incredible Neymar”he pointed.

The leader, among other things, clarified that these three stars cannot win trophies alone.

“Big stars aren’t capable of winning a trophy by themselves. They can win one game, two games or a few games. But they need others, that there is harmony”He explained.

“The players need to have a collective sense. We have made great progress, but we must continue to progress. From the coach’s whistle, from the referee’s whistle. All together in the same direction, as a team. It’s the only way to win”hill.