French club Paris Saint-Germain presented its new player, Argentine star Lionel Messi, in a press conference today, Wednesday.
The former Barcelona star, who scored 672 goals in 778 games for the Catalan team, was expected to sign a new contract at Camp Nou, but financial complications forced him to leave the club.
After the failure to sign the new contract, the Parisian team immediately swooped in to complete one of the most important deals in the history of the round witch, and the Saint-Germain administration confirmed the termination of the deal on Tuesday.
Messi says - during the press conference in which the president of Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi - participated, "It is a new experience and I am ready for it, I have colleagues in the dressing room and this will make it much easier for the adaptation process. Personally and athletically, we are in an amazing city and we are so happy to be in it."
In response to a question about the requirements to win the Champions League, Messi answers, “It is not easy, sometimes you have the best players in the world and you do not win, Paris was close in the past years and had a great team, I do not know what the team lacks, but you must have a team "United. From the outside I know that Paris has this spirit and we need some luck and it's important because the best doesn't always win, I come here with a great desire and my dream is to hold this trophy again and I'm here in the right place. PSG and I are looking for the same goal, we are now." United".
He explained, "The change was difficult, but when I arrived here there was great happiness. I am enjoying a lot from the first day. I want to start training. I have a great desire to meet my colleagues and the coaching staff. I thank everyone, the president of the club and Leonardo (the sporting director of the Paris club)." The warm welcome made me very happy, I am sure we will have a lot of fun and strive to achieve the goals of this club."
Lionel Messi salue les supporters venus l'accueillir au Parc des Princes 😍
On vous laisse apprécier !#PSGxMESSI pic.twitter.com/txdJ3viry6
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) August 11, 2021
"It's a great feeling to share time with two great players, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe."
"As I said before, I am grateful to everyone who welcomed me here, it was crazy and everyone took to the streets, we hope it will be a great season for them and for us, I've never experienced anything like this before. This is a very special day for me .. This is crazy, the reception of the fans was Impressive."
Messi confirmed, "My only will now is to start training. I want to work with the staff and my colleagues and start this new moment in my life."
"I have this will to play, and I am really impatient. I still want to win, as I did in the first moment of my career," he stressed.
"I feel this club is ready to fight for all the trophies. That's my goal, I want to keep improving and keep winning trophies, that's why I came to this club, I really hope we can achieve that."
Messi admitted that he had considered the possibility of facing Barcelona if Paris Saint-Germain were drawn against the Spanish team in the Champions League.
And the Argentine magician revealed, "Barcelona is my homeland, I have been there since I was a child and lived many things there, I don't know if we will face each other, it would be great to return to Barcelona .. It would be strange to play in your stadium there in Barcelona with another shirt but this It could happen and we'll see."
For his part, the president of Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, confirmed that signing Messi represents an important statement.
👀 #PSGxMESSI pic.twitter.com/FvqRe2Hae9
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) August 11, 2021
"This is a wonderful and historic day for the club, the world of football and for us," he said. "It is amazing what we tried to achieve."
"We had high ambitions and we are very proud of what we have achieved today. There was a great desire on both sides to achieve this. This is just the beginning and the serious work will begin now," Al-Khelaifi explained.
He expressed his belief that the use of Messi's services will be crucial in maintaining the young French winger Kylian Mbappe, 22, whose contract with Saint-Germain expires at the end of next season.
"He (Mbappe) wanted a competitive team and I think we have the most competitive team in the world, so there is no excuse for him now, he can do nothing but stay," said the PSG president, who defended the club's spending.
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Al-Khelaifi continued, "What you need as the media to focus on is not only the negative side, but the positive side that (Messi) will bring to the club. We checked with our financial officials and knew that we could sign him."
And he concluded that "the level of the French League will rise with Messi, the TV rights and our partners as well, everything will rise because of Messi."
Al-Khelaifi concluded his speech by saying, "Through all this we look at financial fair play and we will always fulfill its regulations."
Messi: My first goal is to win the Champions League (Reuters)
During his time with Barcelona's first team, which lasted 21 years, Messi won 4 titles in the Champions League, and also won 10 titles in the Spanish League.
Messi won his first international title, after he was crowned with Argentina in the South American Cup (Copa America) last July, to lead his country to its first title in the continental competition since 1993.
Saint-Germain, who signed this summer with Moroccan Ashraf Hakimi and included free Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Dutch Giorgenio Wijnaldum and Spaniard Sergio Ramos, is looking to regain the French League title he lost last season to Lille, before embarking on the search for his first title in the Champions League.