Team newspaper: Messi can t forget to be humiliated by Paris "three stops". After leaving, he "retaliated" every interview

June 27 Miami International will face the new Champions League champion in Paris in the top 16 of the Club World Cup, which is also a reunion between Messi and his old club. It is never easy to meet your ex again. It may evoke a beautiful past and may also bring unpleasant memories. It is easy to imagine that Paris and Messi have different views on their short contract, and French media "Team" also published an article reviewing the grievances between the two sides.

Beginning: A chance and a forced departure

In early August 2021, when some executives were on vacation in southern France, Spain and Morocco, a news broke the tranquility of the Paris club, Nasser informed his team that Messi was about to join.

Due to Barcelona's serious financial crisis, Messi was forced to leave his beloved club and find a new home, especially considering that the 2022 World Cup is approaching, and the 34-year-old Messi has not won the World Cup yet. He hopes to find a competitive league. Messi's father Jorge contacted Manchester City and Paris. Guardiola was not keen on reunion with this former disciple, but Nasser warmly welcomed Messi's arrival, which was his always dream, but the answer he received during every attempt to contact was always "no need". This time, the Messi family took the initiative to contact them!

After the initial incredible experience, the internal Paris immediately entered a state of emergency, and everyone immediately ended their holiday and returned to work. According to the "Team News" in September 2021, Messi's salary in Paris was 30 million euros in the first year and 40 million euros in the second year, which also forces the club to find new financing plans.

Former Parisian financial director Mark Armstrong began to visit club sponsors to inform Messi of joining Paris and requested an increase in contract sponsorship. Thanks to Messi's arrival, Crypto.com, the world's leading cryptocurrency company, signed a three-year contract with Paris for 25 million to 30 million euros, three times higher than the initial negotiation price.

Messi's sudden joining also caught Paris' sales department off guard. The original jersey inventory did not take this into consideration, so the club had to urgently print Messi's jerseys and transfer goods from other retailers as much as possible. The specialty stores on the Champs Elysees and the Princes Stadium have hundreds of meters in queues. Due to the huge demand, Paris has had to limit the number of purchases per customer. According to internal reports, some fans from Mexico even flew to Paris specifically to become one of the first lucky guys to own Messi No. 30 jerseys. The brand value of Paris has also increased accordingly. It is reported that Saudi Arabia paid 10 million to 12 million euros for a friendly match between Paris and Riyadh in January 2023, and its two tours in Japan earned more than 20 million euros.

In addition, when organizing Messi's debut ceremony and press conference, Paris's public relations department had to handle hundreds of interview requests from around the world. In just one week, the club's social media increased by more than 20 million followers, and some posts even viewed more than 1 billion times. A club employee recalled: "It's so crazy. I've never seen such a situation. We were busy for several days in a row."

Because the press room at the Princes Stadium was too small to accommodate all the media, Paris changed the Honor Hall for displaying the trophy into a new press room. Messi was not composed of talkative, but to the team's surprise, the club arranged more than a dozen interviews for him, including French TV stations TF1, BBC, CNN, and media interviews from China and Japan.

Another employee recalled: "Messi is quite shy, sometimes looking surprised, sometimes being confused. Everything happened too quickly, life changed involuntarily, and new language and new environment made him uncomfortable." This was also the beginning of Messi's problems in Paris.

Integration: Challenge and Glory

Messi left a deep impression on his teammates when he first joined Paris, that is, he did not appear in a very high posture, but instead prepared silently like other players, never showing off or asking for privileges. Despite the honors, Messi knows well that he is a newcomer to the team and that he can only accelerate his integration if he performs well on the court. Here, he also has some friends he already knows, such as Neymar, Di Maria, and Paredes, who often gather outside the court. In addition, Messi has established a deep friendship with Veratti.

Messi strives to adapt to the new country, language, teammates, and leagues that pay more attention to physical confrontation and are slightly less technical. However, overall, his influence in the new environment is limited, far less magical than when he was in Barcelona, ​​and it is difficult to reproduce those unforgettable galloping scenes. But he realized this and tried to contribute more to the team. The then Paris coach Pochettino also tried to solve this seemingly unsolvable balance problem. Messi's second season in Paris was even more exciting, and the players also brought their outstanding form to Qatar, realizing his ultimate dream, but the process of returning to reality was extremely difficult. After a brief rest and celebration after the World Cup, the team's good collective momentum was interrupted.

75 games, 32 goals and 35 assists, two French Super Cup champions, record-breaking jersey sales and sponsorship contracts, Messi's performance in two years in Paris is still respectable, but he has never shown competitiveness in the Champions League. It seems that with or without Messi, Paris is destined to play a secondary role, and is far from fulfilling the promises brought by the "MNM" combination and the luxury lineup of the Galaxy battleship. Everyone knows the next story...

Parting: The lingering bitterness

Paris senior executives and Messi's father both came to watch the game on site during the Qatar World Cup and discussed the topic of the contract. After returning to Paris, the situation changed. Messi hoped to use the win of the World Cup to enhance his negotiation status, but Paris believes that they have provided generous salaries and the negotiations are deadlocked..

Paris refused to improve Messi's treatment and suggested that he was no longer the core of the team. The two consecutive Champions League defeats have also made the club management consider adjusting their strategies and focus entirely on Mbappe. Messi also realized that his future is no longer France, and Saudi Arabia and Miami International have also launched enthusiastic pursuits at this time. The former provides generous contracts, while the latter has the support of Apple and Adidas.

Messi and his family were not happy in Paris, and they were confused by the booing of the Princes after they were eliminated in the Champions League. Messi feels that Paris is more inclined to protect Mbappe and does not give him due respect when winning the World Cup. At Barcelona, ​​Messi is regarded as a god-like existence, and many small things make him miss his past life.

On May 1, 2023, the day after Paris was overwhelmed by Lorient, Messi did not participate in training, but went to Saudi Arabia to fulfill the invitation of his personal sponsor, but did not receive the club's permission. The player was severely punished by Nasser and Campos: suspended for two weeks and withdrew his salary. It is said that the club's senior management hopes to establish their authority through this. Messi also posted an apology video two days later, greeting his teammates and the club, like a child who made a mistake. According to a friend of Messi, this move was recommended by the team and even dressed up Messi like a "puppet", which surprised some friends.

Messi probably will never forget that "humiliation". Compared with setbacks in life, insults from extreme fans and sports failures, this incident marked a complete break, which is also the main reason why Messi's team became resentful to the Paris senior management.

After leaving Paris, every interview speech became an opportunity for Messi to "take revenge" on Paris. This attitude also surprised some people around him: "This does not conform to his personality. Unfortunately, in fact, if it weren't for Barcelona's problems, he wouldn't go to Paris. This club cannot cope with this situation. The coach cannot manage this team well. A trident like MNM should be as powerful as a god. But I still hope that their relationship will improve one day, because 30 years later, people will still remember Messi wearing a jersey through Paris."