Paris Saint-Germain have made no less than TEN players available for transfer or loan this summer due to the imminent signing of Lionel Messi.
After it was announced he would be leaving Barcelona, the French giants have moved swiftly and now look set to complete a sensational deal for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner in the coming days.
Messi, who will wear the No.19 in Paris, is expected to sign a two-year contract with the option of a third.
According to The Athletic, he will receive a £21 million signing on bonus and earn the same sum every year during his stay in Paris.
PSG do have the financial capacity to pull off the deal and expect to make serious money from commercial deals and shirt sales following the signing, yet they still need to trim their wage bill.
As a result, it’s said that a slew of first-teamers are on the transfer list.
PSG are very much open to offers for the likes of Abdou Diallo, Thilo Kehrer, Idrissa Gueye and Rafinha, while they could even let Mauro Icardi and Ander Herrera leave despite the pair being keen on staying.
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| Image: PA |
Although there is uncertainty surrounding the future of Kylian Mbappe given his contract expires next year, PSG are hopeful the addition of Messi will convince him to stay put.
Messi’s arrival caps off a stunning transfer window for PSG and one that includes a number of free transfers.
As well as Messi, the club snapped up Sergio Ramos, Gini Wijnaldum and Gianluigi Donnarumma for free after the trio ran down their contracts at their respective clubs.
They also signed Achraf Hakimi from Inter Milan for around £54 million and paid Porto £14 million to make Danilo Pereira’s loan move permanent.
Messi, meanwhile, has admitted that PSG players tried to tap him up during a recent holiday in Ibiza following the Copa America triumph.
“I met them in Ibiza, we met them one day, got together and we’re friends,” Messi explained.
“I was going to meet Paredes and Di Maria. Ney called me and said, ‘Do you want to see me?”
“We uploaded the photo in that moment because we were having a good time and there was a joke at the time, they kept telling me, ‘Come to Paris, come to Paris’.
“It was just a joke, that was all.”