Football: Paris Saint-Germain explores Lionel Messi signing; Pochettino in contact

Image: Reuters

Barcelona's announcement that Lionel Messi would be leaving the club set Paris Saint-Germain scrambling to figure out if it could sign the most desired free agent in soccer history.

Messi called PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino, who is also from Argentina, on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss private discussions.

The person said PSG is assessing the potential revenue that could be generated by signing Messi while also paying him a huge salary and complying with soccer's financial regulations.

Funded for a decade by Qatari sovereign wealth, PSG is one of the few clubs in the world that can afford the 34-year-old Messi's salary.

He was set to make about 70 million euros ($82 million) per year under his new Barcelona contract, but it was never signed. Barcelona said Thursday that despite reaching an agreement with Messi on the new terms, the Spanish league intervened because the club would not be complying with salary cap regulations.

It leaves open the possibility of the exit announcement being reversed if Barcelona can convince the league to back off. But Barcelona's debts exceed 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 million), a plight not caused by the pandemic but exacerbated by the lack of revenue from empty stadiums on top of years of financial problems.

While Barcelona's social media accounts paid tribute to his career, Messi has yet to post anything online about leaving the club he has been at since the age of 13, winning 35 titles. He helped the club win the Champions League four times, the Spanish league 10 times, the Copa del Rey seven times and the Spanish Super Cup eight times.

If PSG was to sign Messi, he would be reunited with former Barcelona forward Neymar. He would also be the latest free arrival at the French club this offseason, following goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, defender Sergio Ramos and midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum. Like Messi, their contracts expired at Milan, Real Madrid and Liverpool, respectively.

Manchester City, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family, may have the desire and connections to sign Messi. But reuniting him with former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola could be complicated financially with the Premier League champions breaking the British transfer record on Thursday by signing Jack Grealish for 100 million pounds ($140 million).

Guardiola all but ruled out the possibility of signing Messi, and referenced the outlay for Grealish.

“Right now, it’s not in our thoughts, absolutely not,” Guardiola said Friday at a press conference.

Guardiola said he hasn't spoken to Messi.

“In the end it was surprise for everyone, me included of course,” he said. “The president, (Joan) Laporta, was clear today the reasons why. I didn’t speak with the player or the president so I don’t know what happened.”