In one of football’s most dramatic transfers, Lionel Messi officially joins Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Tuesday, August 10, 2021, after being forced to leave Barcelona, the only club he had ever known.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner has signed a two-year contract with the option for a third, immediately boosting PSG’s formidable attack that already featured Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. Messi was seen arriving in Paris on a private jet with his family, waving to throngs of excited supporters at the airport before completing his medical and greeting fans at his hotel. He will wear the number 30 shirt for the club.
Messi’s departure from Barcelona was driven by La Liga’s stringent Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, which made it impossible for the heavily indebted Catalan club to register his new contract. Just two days prior, a tearful Messi had bid farewell to his boyhood team, describing the shock of having to leave.
Despite the sadness, Messi affirmed his ambition to continue competing at the highest level and, specifically, to win another European Champions League trophy – a major title that Qatari-owned PSG has long coveted but never won.
“I am excited to begin a new chapter of my career at Paris Saint-Germain,” said Messi. “I am determined to help build something special for the club and the fans, and I am looking forward to stepping out onto the pitch at the Parc des Princes.”
Messi’s arrival has made the PSG squad, managed by Mauricio Pochettino, one of the most star-studded teams in history. He joined several other high-profile signings that summer who also arrived on free transfers, including:
The move, which followed his previous Barcelona contract valued at a staggering €555 million, immediately reignited the debate surrounding the effectiveness and enforcement of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.
