Barcelona icon, Lionel Messi, has reached an agreement to join French giant, Paris Saint Germain on a two-year deal worth £25m per year after tax.
Sky Sports reports that the six-time Ballon d’Or winner will be in Paris on Tuesday afternoon to seal his move to the French club; the 34-year-old will have the option to extend the deal by a third year.
The 34-year-old said he wanted to stay at Barcelona and “did everything” he could to remain at the club, including agreeing to a 50-per-cent wage cut.
However, Barcelona are hamstrung by La Liga’s rules on club spending and even halving Messi’s pay was not enough to ensure he remained at the Nou Camp.
Messi is now set to join PSG, with their potential to compete for major trophies – including the Champions League – understood to be a key factor in his decision to move to France.
Messi is also believed to be keen to reunite with Neymar, with whom he won two La Liga titles, three Copa del Reys and the Champions League during their time together at Barcelona.
Asked about a move to PSG at his farewell press conference last weekend, Messi said: “That is one possibility, to reach those heights.
“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.”
Tearful Messi bids Barca farewell
Messi said he did not want to leave Barcelona in an emotional farewell news conference on Sunday.
Messi was in tears as he received a standing ovation in his final Barcelona press conference to announce the end of his 21 years with the club.
Barcelona confirmed Messi’s departure on Thursday night, the same day he returned to Catalonia following his post-Copa America holiday.
Messi had travelled to Barcelona expecting to agree on the details of the announcement of his new five-year deal, and he confirmed he offered to reduce his wages by 50 per cent.
“This year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay at home, that’s what we all wanted more than anything,” said Messi.
“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.”
