Messi To Leave PSG This Summer, Club Considering Neymar

– Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, with the Ligue 1 club not planning to offer the forward a new contract.

Messi joined PSG in the summer of 2021 on a two-year deal after leaving Barcelona due to their financial issues.

The 35-year-old has played 71 times for the French side, scoring 31 goals, recording 34 assists and lifting the title in 2022.

PSG would be willing to listen to offers for Neymar this summer.

PSG condemned the actions of supporters who are understood to have gathered outside the home of Neymar and chanted for him to leave the club on Wednesday night.

Fans were filmed chanting for the board to resign outside club headquarters before further clips showed a group of supporters visit the home of Neymar and called for him to move on.

“Paris Saint-Germain most strongly condemns the intolerable and insulting actions of a small group of individuals that took place on Wednesday,” a club statement read. “Whatever the differences of opinion, nothing justifies such actions. The club gives its full support to its players, its staff and all those targeted by such shameful behaviour.”

Messi’s representatives were in talks over a contract renewal, with everything looking positive during the World Cup in Qatar, but the dynamic has now changed.

PSG consider the move to sign Messi to have been a success on and off the pitch, but sections of the club’s fans turned on the player after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich.

Messi was also suspended by PSG earlier this week for going on a personal promotional trip to Saudi Arabia without permission.

The Argentina international is understood to have asked PSG for permission to travel to the country, which he did on Sunday night, having twice postponed a scheduled commercial trip due to team defeats.

However, Messi did not get that permission and was therefore suspended for two games and fined two weeks’ wages after a day of meetings between the club’s hierarchy.

Messi will now miss the Ligue 1 matches against Troyes and Ajaccio, but could return for the match against Auxerre on May 21.

The forward and the team have not been performing as well as expected since the World Cup and his departure in the summer will fit with the club’s new strategy of focusing on young French players instead of signing superstar talents.

Messi still believes he can play at the highest level in Europe and Barcelona have made no secret of their desire to re-sign him this summer.

It remains to be seen whether they can afford to offer him a new contract but he is much more likely to stay in Europe than move to Inter Miami – or any other MLS club – or Saudi Arabia at this stage of his career.