Messi reaches agreement to join France’s PSG, his father says

Lionel Messi has agreed to join French club Paris Saint Germain (PSG) following his abrupt departure from Barcelona, his father said on Tuesday.

Reuters reporters saw Messi and his father Jorge arrive at Barcelona airport after French newspaper L’Equipe and Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo said the Argentine midfielder had reached an agreement to join PSG on a two-year deal.

Asked by reporters at the airport if his son would sign for PSG, Jorge Messi replied: “Yes.”

The destination of the plane carrying Messi, 34, was not immediately confirmed but Messi was expected to arrive in the French capital later on Tuesday.

Messi established himself as one of the greatest footballers of all time during a glittering, trophy-laden career at Barcelona, the club he joined as a schoolboy.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner, wept on Sunday as he bade farewell to his boyhood team, after the club said it could no longer afford to keep him because of La Liga’s fair play rules. read more

At PSG, Messi will make an already formidable frontline even stronger. Messi’s former Barcelona team mate Neymar and young France striker Kylian Mbappe are already at the club and are seen as two of the world’s best players.

But the arrival of Messi, Barcelona’s all-time record scorer with 682 goals, will boost the club’s ambitions to win a first ever Champions League.

Messi is the latest big-name arrival at PSG on a free transfer this summer after coach Mauricio Pochettino’s side snapped up Spanish defender Sergio Ramos after he left Real Madrid. Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum also joined after running down his contract with Liverpool.