Written by ROB HARRIS

Lionel Messi finalized agreement on his Paris Saint-Germain contract and was flying to France on Tuesday to complete the move that confirms the end of a career-long association with Barcelona.

The 34-year-old Argentina star has agreed a two-year deal with the option for a further season, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the contract ahead of it being signed and the official announcement.

Messi is set to earn around 35 million euros ($41 million) net annually, the person said. Messi’s father and agent, Jorge, also confirmed Messi was moving to PSG in a brief exchange with reporters at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport on Tuesday.

Funded for a decade by Qatari sovereign wealth, PSG is one of the few clubs in the world that could finance the signing that links Messi up with Brazil forward Neymar and France World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe.

While PSG had to pay 222 million euros (then $261 million) to sign Neymar from Barcelona in 2017, there was no transfer fee for Messi.

Messi became the most desired free agent in soccer history after his Barcelona contract expired. The Catalan club had hoped to keep Messi, who agreed to a pay cut but it still wouldn’t have complied with the Spanish league’s financial regulations.

PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino was in contact with his fellow Argentine as Barcelona announced last Thursday that Messi would be leaving the club he joined as a 13-year-old before winning every major trophy.

Messi has won six Ballon d’Or titles in a sign of his status as one of the greatest of all-time.

PSG will be hoping not only that Messi helps the team regain the French title it lost to Lille last season but finally win the Champions League.

If the club uses a 4-3-3 formation, the front three could see Messi deployed on the right with Neymar on the left and Mbappe between them as the center forward.

 

Related Stories
‹
Europe Launches a Drive To Attract Scientists and Researchers After Trump Freezes US Funding
The European Union launched a drive to attract American scientists and researchers to Europe with offers of grants and new policy plans.
UNC AD Bubba Cunningham Supports Tar Heels, College Athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics
As a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Board of Directors, Bubba Cunningham is in Paris supporting Tar Heels and Team USA.
With Big Goals and Gambles, Paris Aims To Reset the Olympics With Audacious Games and a Wow Opening
Written by JOHN LEICESTER Paris has long been a city of dreamers: just look at the Eiffel Tower, for decades the world’s loftiest structure. Audacity also underpins the French capital’s plans for its first Olympic Games in a century, which open Friday with an opening ceremony for the ages. The most sprawling and elaborate Olympic opening ever […]
Olympics Boss Vows Paris Games Will Be Safe, Says No Resignations Planned in Probe
Written by JOHN LEICESTER What was shaping up as a regular workday turned out to be anything but for the organizers of France’s first summer Olympic Games in a century. French anti-corruption police raided their bustling Olympic headquarters on the outskirts of Paris, arriving unannounced and accompanied by a magistrate from a French financial crimes […]
France: 400 Investigations Into Fake COVID-19 Health Passes
Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS France has opened 400 investigations into networks providing fake COVID-19 health passes, the interior minister said Sunday, as virus-related hospitalizations rise sharply across the country. The case of a woman with the virus who died in a Paris regional hospital after showing a false vaccine certificate has drawn attention in French media […]
Trial of 20 Men Accused in 2015 Paris Attacks Begins
Written by LORI HINNANT and NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY In a custom-built secure complex embedded within a 13th-century courthouse, France on Wednesday opened the trial of 20 men accused in the Islamic State group’s 2015 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. Nine gunmen and suicide bombers struck within minutes of each other […]
Europe Eyes New Restrictions as Virus Cases Hit Record High
Governments across Europe ratcheted up restrictions Tuesday in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus as the continent recorded its highest weekly number of new infections since the start of the pandemic. The World Health Organization said there were more than 700,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in Europe last week, a jump of […]
Paris on Maximum Virus Alert, Closing Bars, Not Restaurants
French authorities placed the Paris region on maximum virus alert on Monday, banning festive gatherings and requiring all bars to close but allowing restaurants to remain open, as numbers of infections increased rapidly. Paris police prefect Didier Lallement announced the new restrictions would apply at least for the next two weeks. “We are continuously adapting […]
Stolen Banksy Honoring Bataclan Victims Found in Italy
Italian authorities on Thursday unveiled a stolen artwork by British artist Banksy that was painted as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 terror attacks at the Bataclan music hall in Paris. L’Aquila prosecutors said the work was recovered on Wednesday during a search of a home in the countryside of Tortoreto, near the […]
Rising From Sick Beds, COVID Medics Head Back to Front Lines
Dr. Aurelie Gouel’s kids tell the ICU physician when she sets off for long hospital shifts trying to save critically ill coronavirus patients. Although aged just 4 and 6, Gouel’s children are acutely aware of how dangerous the disease can be not only because their mother […]
›