This is the story of a now inevitable divorce. And a more or less announced failure. By deciding to punish Lionel Messi very harshly after his Saudi escapade, PSG has reached the point of no return with the Argentinian and it now seems to have been taken, as our colleagues from The Team, that the Pulga will no longer be Parisian beyond June 3, the date of the last game of the Rouge et Bleu season. Ultimately, the whole question is who screwed up the most in this story.
Messi, by putting himself seriously at fault both vis-à-vis his employer and vis-à-vis his image, a bit like Cristiano Ronaldo a few months ago with Manchester United? Or the PSG, which suddenly buys an authority at a discount after years of unbearable slackness at the risk of passing for a junk opportunist? As often in this kind of situation, it’s a bit of both my captain.
Messi, first responsible for his Parisian failure
By knowingly deciding to plan this marketing tour in Saudi Arabia, when a training session was indeed on the Parisians’ schedule on Monday May 1 – it is only in the event of success against Lorient that the session would have been skipped – and by choosing moreover not to wait for the green light from his club to go and sell the benefits of the very controversial Saudi Arabia, Messi was undoubtedly at fault. But couldn’t PSG have settled this in its own way, as it usually does, between four walls, with a big fine and a stroke of the ruler on the fingers, instead of causing an explosion at the international deflagration? Why so suddenly and strongly sanction one of the legends of football when, for years, the leaders have made it clear to the whole world that the institution goes after the whims of its big stars, Neymar in the lead?
The question of the credibility of the Parisian decision inevitably arises today. Would PSG have shown the same firmness if it was Monsignor Mbappé opposite? It’s a safe bet not. In Argentina, we clearly have an idea on the question, like what the generalist newspaper writes The Nation this Wednesday morning, which speaks of a “tsunami in a glass of water, transforming a minor problem into a conflict without return. “PSG has not shown the same flexibility towards Messi as it has on more than one occasion with regard to Neymar and his trips to Brazil for carnivals or family birthdays”, continues the Argentinian daily.
The argument stands and will certainly find a wide echo among the lovers of the world champion, even in the ranks of the player’s clan. Nevertheless, the former Barcelonan, very happy to find a club capable of both offering him an oil king’s salary and an adequate competitive environment to accomplish the ultimate end-of-career goal (the quest for the World Cup ), never gave the impression of wanting to return the favor to PSG. Rarely decisive in the games that matter despite a rather honest record of stats (31 goals, 29 assists in 86 games), often singled out for his lack of commitment on the pitch, the walker from Rosario is at least as responsible as PSG, if not more, of its failure in the capital.
One shot or real revolution?
“Coming to Paris was not a choice of the heart but an opportunistic choice dictated by fate and it showed in his behavior and his involvement, says former Parisian defender Jimmy Algérino. I believe that the club did everything to put him in the best conditions and allowed him to remain competitive for the World Cup. Paris gave him a lot and didn’t get much in return. It shows the player’s lack of consideration for PSG. Messi as he is, we can’t behave like this. »
“I do not question his career which is fantastic nor his talent, but his coming to PSG is a total fiasco, do not hesitate to say Jérôme Rothen on RMC. And to see that he doesn’t even have the professional conscience to say to himself ‘well, in terms of images it may be inappropriate for me to go there because I was more than useless against Lorient and that ‘we looked like losers throughout the match’… When the team is in agony, he is even more in agony. »
After having regularly mocked the weakness of a PSG always quick to lie down in front of the omnipotence of its stars, it is difficult to blame the club today. And by reacting in this way, even though the negotiations for a possible extension of Messi’s contract took place a few weeks ago and did not seem to lead to anything, Paris seized the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, the club comes out on top by showing that it is he who is separating from Messi and not the other way around – which is always good for the egos of Qatari leaders who are not lacking in it – On the other, it allows him to prove by a strong act that the summer promises of a tightening of screws made by Nasser Al-Khelaïfi are not just talk.
“We can always say that PSG wakes up very late in its demonstration of authority, of course, but once we have said that, what do we do? Better late than never, slice Algérino. I think it’s an interesting signal that the club sends to present and future players, the whole question is whether it will find an extension in the future. »
Indeed, the next decisions of Paris Saint-Germain and Nasser Al-Khelaïfi will be scrutinized in the event of a new gap by a player. PSG’s firmness towards Messi should not be just a one-shot but the beginning of a new era. In which case, this umpteenth twist in the Parisian telenovela will have served some purpose. Otherwise, Paris will continue to be the laughingstock of the whole world. The ball is in his court.