Last summer, the soccer great surprised the whole sports world when La Liga regulations rendered it impossible for Barcelona to renew the player’s contract, forcing Messi to join PSG on a Bosman transfer. So, how is the legend holding up at his new club?
Lionel Messi scored a stunning goal to win his first club competition outside of Spain as PSG claimed their record 10th Ligue 1 title thanks to an unconvincing draw against Lens in front of the Parc des Princes fans. Lionel Messi made his Ligue 1 debut for Paris Saint-Germain this season, but Kylian Mbappe shone as the capital club maintained its perfect start with a 2-0 win at the end of Stade de Reims. It wasn’t until 20 November that Lionel Messi finally managed to score his all-important first Champions League goal for PSG, scoring a stunning goal at the end of a 3-1 home win over Nantes. Lionel Messi got his first taste of Le Classique when PSG took on Marseille but was yet to score his first goal of the season in Ligue 1 when the match ended 0-0.
Lionel Messi failed in his first season at Paris Saint-Germain, but he has had great success as a playmaker. Lionel Messi had already marked the start of the league season with the slowest result since 2005/06, when it took him six attempts to score his first La Liga goal for Barça, while now he had not scored a single goal in Ligue 1 games. Argentina’s 28-year wait for the Copa América title that ended last year also brought Lionel Messi his first significant silver with the senior national team. As for club football, to be honest, it can be challenging to adapt to a completely different country, with a completely different climate, food, people and style of football. In fact, someone like Karim Benzema said, “It’s just an adjustment period because he doesn’t score many goals…. But look what he’s doing on the pitch,” indicating that what he saw on the pitch showed that Messi was fine, no matter how many goals he managed to score.
Despite an unsuccessful first season in France, it has been suggested that Messi will get another chance to establish himself at PSG next season as the club has opted to keep him. As Kylian Mbappe is highly linked with a transfer to Real Madrid, Angel Di Maria‘s contract expires this summer, and the club is prepared to listen to bids for Neymar, the Ligue 1 giants are set to form a new-look team around the Argentine playmaker. It remains to be seen if Pochettino will be allowed to bring the best out of Messi next season, as speculations suggest that the 50-year-old may be replaced in the PSG dugout soon.
