Jorge Messi, father and agent of Lionel Messi, has issued a statement following reports of a possible transfer. The French press agency came on Tuesday morning AFP with the news that the Argentinian star player will exchange Paris Saint-Germain after this season for an unnamed club from Saudi Arabia. Nonsense, says Messi senior. Nothing has been signed and there is no oral agreement.
All alarm bells went off on Tuesday morning when the above news agency reported Messi’s final departure and all major media ran off with the news. After Messi’s controversial trip to Saudi Arabia, all the wildest rumors have been circulating. The Argentinian dropped a penalty training to meet obligations in Saudi Arabia. However, this seemed not only to have had to do with agreements with sponsors, but also with an impending switch.
The Messi camp feels compelled to respond to the rumors. “We will only make a decision after this season,” writes the entourage of the world champion. “There are always rumors and many use Lionel’s name to generate awareness, but there is only one truth and it is that nothing is playing right now. There is no verbal agreement and nothing has been signed at all. Only after this season will we consider.”
Messi could earn around four hundred million euros a year in Saudi Arabia at Al-Hilal, the great arch rival of Al-Nassr, the club where Cristiano Ronaldo plays. “It seems like a disrespect, there are people who knowingly and deliberately deceive, without any evidence to back up their claims,” the Messi family’s statement continued. “They want to turn every malicious rumor into news, which may have been directed by someone in their own interest.”
After missing penalty practice, Messi was given a disciplinary suspension and Paris Saint-Germain fans expressed their anger by singing unflattering songs about the striker. Later, Messi came up with an apology video, but the damage was already done by then. This season, the small dribbler played 37 official games for the Parisians, scoring twenty times and providing nineteen assists. His name has also been linked to a return to Barcelona for some time.