Lionel Messi Has Not Agreed To Renew Paris Saint Germain Contract

Lionel Messi has not agreed to renew his contract with Paris Saint Germain.

The recently-crowned World Cup winner joined the Qatari-backed giants in the summer of 2021 after former club FC Barcelona failed to navigate a strict La Liga salary cap and offer him fresh terms.

This meant that Messi therefore ended his 20-year plus relationship with the Catalans and walked to the Ligue 1 leaders on a free transfer.

Messi penned a two-year arrangement at the Parc des Princes, which means he again becomes a free man on in the summer and can now negotiate with whomever he wishes as per his next destination.

Reports in recent weeks have stressed that Messi has already agreed to sign a new deal with PSG. On Thursday however, these claims have been debunked by L’Equipe which claims that Messi has not given his “yes” to PSG’s offer.

The French sports magazine says that the seven-time Ballon d’Or winer is still not convinced by the Parisian club, whose leadership are still waiting for his answer on whether he intends to remain their player beyond the 2022/2023.

If accurate, the news will come as a comfort to the likes of Inter Miami and Messi’s former club FC Barcelona.

After allowing Messi to leave in tears on his watch, president Joan Laporta has began addressing the 35-year-old’s exit and potential return in the media.

“It’s obvious that as Barcelona’s president I would like him to return one day to Barça, I would love that,” Laporta told Barca TV in late December.

“But we can’t generate expectations. Messi is a PSG player, he has a contract with them. Messi just won the World Cup, Barca are delighted about that (…) but what I don’t want is to generate expectations [for something] that at the moment is hugely difficult.

“Look, for us, Messi is the best player of all time. We had him here, he developed as a player here. I am convinced he has Barca in his heart and he supports the club. He will always be linked to Barca,” Laporta added.

“If he returns or not as a player? Right now he is a PSG player — we would really like it if he returned but we will see.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomsanderson/2023/01/12/lionel-messi-has-not-agreed-to-renew-paris-saint-germain-contract/