Lionel Messi spoke of a ‘break with the fans’ at PSG near the end of his spell at the club during an interview with beIN Sports.
Messi left boyhood club Barcelona in 2021 for Paris, scoring 32 goals across two seasons at the Parc des Princes, winning two French league titles in the process.
He was unsuccessful in bringing European titles to the French capital though, getting knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 in both 2022 and 2023.
In addition to that, Messi’s instrumental role in Argentina’s World Cup final win over France follwed by an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia that saw him suspended from the club for two weeks resulted in PSG fans never really taking to Messi the way that Barcelona fans did.
The Argentinian was booed by his own supporters after PSG lost to Clermont in his final game for the club earlier this month.
Messi reflected on his decision to join the French side two years ago in an interview with beIn Sports, saying:
“I came to Paris because I liked the club, because I had friends and a lot of people I knew in the dressing room, teammates from the national team or some I had been with before.
“It seemed to me that, beyond what the club was, I was going to have a much easier adaptation than in other teams I could have gone to, so that’s a little bit why I decided to go to the club.”
Following a goodbye that included a lot of tears in Barcelona, the 36-year-old struggled to adapt more than he thought, as he explained:
“The truth is that it was a very difficult adaptation, much more than I expected.
“Apart from the fact that I had people I knew in the dressing room and I had relations with them, it was complicated to adapt to a new change. I arrived late, I didn’t have a pre-season. I had to adapt to a new city, which was difficult for my family and for me.”
It was clear that Messi was struggling to transition to life in Paris as his early form showed, bagging only six league goals in his first season after bagging 30 goals in his final season at Barcelona.
In his second season, his form improved and he managed 16 league goals, but PSG fans were still largely unconvinced.
“People started to treat me differently,” Messi continued.
“Part of the PSG crowd, the rest and the majority still treated me as they did at the beginning, but there was a break with the PSG fans.
“It wasn’t my intention, far from it, to generate that break. It also happened with Neymar or Mbappe before.”
Lionel Messi has recently agreed to join Inter Miami in the MLS, who are in dire need of some talent as they have slipped to the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference.
Following only five wins in their first 17 games and a manager change earlier this month, Inter Miami have not only signed Messi, but his ex-teammate and Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets.
The midfielder put on the famous Blaugrana shirt more than 700 times, and shared the stage at Barcelona with Messi for 13 years.
