What’s next for Lionel Messi after leaving Barcelona?

In an emotional departure press conference, Lionel Messi stated that he did not want to leave Barcelona; Messi already received a formal contract offer from PSG. However, he stated that “nothing is confirmed.” After leaving Barcelona, two alternative options are in place for Messi. Moreover, PSG remains the frontrunner to sign him.

Following Messi’s exit to Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain already made a formal two-year contract offer to Lionel Messi. The French club offered Messi a two-year contract for £25 million per year after taxes, which the six-time Ballon d’Or winner and his representatives are now evaluating and discussing.

Barcelona stated that Messi will leave the club owing to “financial and structural obstacles” in fulfilling a new deal with the player.

What’s next for Lionel Messi?

The Argentina international recently met with PSG head coach Mauricio Pochettino to discuss a deal with the French capital. PSG immediately became the front-runners to recruit him, bringing him back together with former Barcelona teammate Neymar. A reporter asked Messi if PSG would be his next move. “That is one possibility, to reach those heights. I’ve got nothing confirmed with anybody. I had a lot of calls, a lot of interested clubs. At the moment, nothing is closed, but we are talking about a lot of things,“ he responded.

In a press conference, PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino addressed the subject:

“A player of Messi’s calibre, that is what is interesting to me. The club is working on several options, but we must focus on the game with Troyes. We know about what happened yesterday. The club is working on the transfer window and on the elements that could come in to improve the team and allow us to achieve our goals.”

“I didn’t want to leave Barcelona.” – Messi

An emotional Messi got a standing ovation during his farewell press conference for Barcelona, which marked the end of his 21-year association with the club.

“I could not have imagined this goodbye, wanted it with fans in the stadium, to hear one more ovation from them, one more show of love. Leaving after 18 months without fans signing my name, being close to them, I couldn’t imagine it. But it has happened like this.”

“I am still not realising that I am leaving this club, this place, my life-changing completely. Now I must start from zero, a big change, tough for my family too to leave this city. But we are going to be fine, a difficult change, but must be taken on and start again.”

Messi travelled to Barcelona hoping to finalize the specifics of his new five-year contract, and he revealed that he offered to decrease his earnings by half.

“This year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay at home, that’s what we all wanted more than anything. We’d always made this our own, we were at home. We thought we would be staying here in Barcelona. But today, we have to say goodbye to all of this,” Messi said.

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