With Lionel Messi In Their Ranks, Paris Saint-Germain Look To Change Their Fortunes

Picture : Twitter / PSG

By securing the prized signing of Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain moved into a new dimension with a player widely considered to be one of the all-time greats of the game.

According to AP report, The 34-year-old Argentine forward, who joined on a two-year deal on Tuesday with an option for a third year, will be presented to a 50,000 crowd at Parc des Princes before the game against Strasbourg on Saturday.

He strengthens a glittering attack that includes his friend Neymar, his countryman Angel Di Maria, and France”s star striker Kylian Mbappe.

Neymar tweeted his delight to play with Messi again

“Everything about the club matches my football ambitions,” Messi said. “I am determined to help build something special for the club and the fans.”

Ten years after Javier Pastore was unveiled as PSG”s first marquee signing for 42 million euros ($49 million), Messi joined on a free transfer after bidding a tearful farewell to Barcelona on Sunday.

Messi”s net salary of 35 million euros ($41 million) is less than Neymar”s (37 million euros/$43.4 million).

After taking over at PSG in June 2011, cash-rich investors QSI now boast one of the best squads in European soccer, having already signed Italy’s Euro 2020-winning goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, veteran Spanish defender Sergio Ramos and former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum on free transfers.

One transfer outlay was the hefty 60 million euros ($71 million) it spent on Achraf Hakimi from Italian champion Inter Milan. He is arguably the best attacking right back in Europe and scored a fine goal on his league debut.

Qatari-backed PSG has been desperate to win the Champions League, falling just short when it lost the 2020 final to Bayern Munich.

Now, with Messi on board, it has arguably the strongest attack in the game. Eager fans waited at Le Bourget airport on Tuesday afternoon and broke into chants of “Messi! Messi! Messi! as he waved from a window wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with ”Ici C”est Paris” (This Is Paris) — a favorite chant among fans.

His arrival surpasses the fanfare of Neymar’s world-record signing for 222 million euros ($261 million) from Barcelona in 2017, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brazenly self-promoting presentation by the Eiffel Tower in 2012.