He himself recognized it on several occasions: Lionel Messi does not keep a good memory of his two seasons spent at PSG. Arrived free in the summer of 2021, because his club of FC Barcelona could not financially hold it, the Argentinian striker was not “Not happy” in the capital. “The neighbors bored us”he had entrusted to ESPN in June 2024, about its difficult adaptation in France.
“In Paris, we sounded at my door at 9 or 10 a.m. to tell me that the children should not play ball (…). Unfortunately, it did not go like them and I wanted it. It plays a lot on my state of mind and it has repercussions on the ground. On a personal level, I was not well ”he had explained, not having appreciated the lack of recognition of the club either after his eighth Ballon d'Or.
How did he find in this situation? You have to go back a few weeks before his signature. The “pulga” is then on vacation in Ibiza and crosses several players from Paris Saint-Germain, as Marco Verratti tells in La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I remember a fantastic, almost magical evening, he said.
We were in Ibiza, Neymar came to see me and told me that we died with Leo Messi that evening. »»
How Neymar and Verratti convinced Messi
“So we found ourselves at the table: Leo, (Leandro) Paredes, Ney and (Angel) Di Maria. We discussed and had a great time. And we have, so to speak, encouraged to come to Parishe continues. Late in the evening, we said to each other, and the next day, we learned that there were problems between him and Barcelona. Then, at the beginning of the afternoon, Neymar called me: 'Marco, Leo comes to us'. »»
A moment ” amazing “ Dixit the Italian midfielder, who is now playing in Al-Duhail in Qatar.
“To have it to have it as a teammate … a magical evening”he recalls. The rest was however less idyllic for Lionel Messi, therefore, but the 2022 world champion found the pleasure of playing Inter Miami, which he joined in 2023. And where he should stay at least until the 2026 World Cup.
