Lionel Messi Finally Breaks Silence After Leaving Spanish Club Barcelona to Join PSG
- Lionel Messi officially joined Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain, meaning he leaves Barcelona for good after two decades
- The 34-year-old was mobbed upon arrival in Paris as thousands of supporters throng the airport as well as the Parc des Princes
- Messi has however expressed delight as he signs a two-year-deal, saying he is very happy to join the club
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After putting pen on paper on a two-year deal, Lionel Messi has stated that he is delighted to join a huge club like Paris Saint-Germain, Rock Hill Herald reports.
The French giants signed the Argentine on free transfer after he completed his medical in Paris on Tuesday, August 10.
Twenty-four hours later, Messi was presented to the media in a news conference at the Parc des Princes stadium.
He will now play alongside former teammate Neymar and then Kylian Mbappe and Sergio Ramos.
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Messi said via Yahoo:
“It’s been a very hard move after so many years, it was a difficult change after so much time, but the moment I arrived here I felt very happy.
“I’m going to play with best players, it’s very nice, it’s incredible to be able to experience this."
While PSG had to pay 222 million euros (then $261 million) to sign Neymar from Barcelona in 2017, there was no transfer fee for Messi.
Xavi decries Messi's exit at Barcelona
Meanwhile, Barcelona legend Xavi has decried Lionel Messi’s exit from Spanish club Barcelona as he stated that he feels so sad for the Argentine.
Both stars played together at Camp Nou winning four Champions League titles during their time with the Spanish club.
Xavi stated that he feels so sad that his former teammate was forced to leave the Catalan club despite that he wanted to stay.
Messi even agreed a 50 percent pay cut with the La Liga outfit, but somehow they could they could not complete his contract extension.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner has now joined French club Paris Saint-Germain, but according to Xavi, it was a pity Barcelona could not find a solution.
Briefly News earlier reported that Paris Saint-Germain are already benefitting from Lionel Messi's transfer to Parc des Princes as fans have flooded their Instagram handle.
The Argentine international made a big summer move to the French giants after cutting ties with his boyhood club Barcelona. The 34-year-old was unable to renew his contract due to the strict financial rules set by La Liga that brought a premature end to his 21-year reign at Camp Nou.
PSG had 19.8million followers on Instagram and it surged to 42 million in the last 24 hours after Messi signed for the oil-rich club.
Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
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