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Paris Saint-Germain is no stranger to the symbolism of the transfer market. His £ 200 million signing of Neymar in the summer of 2017 was a move that shook European football, proving that the Qatari-owned French club could attract the best players from the sport’s biggest clubs.
Four years later, PSG have another chance to attract a generational superstar. Two, in fact. Lionel Messi’s future has been the subject of much speculation of late, as Barcelona’s contract with the Argentine expires this summer. On top of this, Cristiano Ronaldo finds himself at a crossroads after three years at Juventus.
PSG’s interest in Messi is already established. The French club has barely managed to contain the excitement at the idea of signing the 33-year-old with Angel di Maria expressing their hope that Messi will join him in Paris. “There are many possibilities. We have to be calm and things will develop ”, said the midfielder.
While the speculation has not been as intense around Ronaldo, PSG is widely seen as one of the possible escape routes for the Portuguese Juventus forward. The 36-year-old has already won titles in England, Italy and Spain and a move to France could prove attractive as he attempts his personal mission to conquer all of European football.
Conventional wisdom suggests that PSG would have to choose between the two players, but what if they signed both this summer? There couldn’t be a bigger declaration of intent, even if Messi and Ronaldo are now in the twilight of their respective careers. It would be the ultimate football experiment and crossover event to challenge anything Marvel produced.
Financially, PSG’s considerable resources would be stretched, but there is no other club that can bring together the two best players of all time to play on the same team. Some balance sheet space may need to be cleared through the sale of Kylian Mbappé or Neymar, but this type of opportunity will not present itself again.
As a club, PSG are more commercial-minded than most. They have led the way in blurring the lines between soccer and culture through their link to Air Jordan. The historic signing of Neymar had as much to do with what the Brazilian could offer the club off the field as on it. Imagine what Messi and Ronaldo could do for ‘Project PSG’.
Their games would become unmissable events. The shirts would fly off the shelves. New fans would be drawn to the French game. The impact of Messi and Ronaldo’s transfer to PSG would be felt long after their departure, giving the club the kind of stature and position that not even a Champions League title would give.
This is even before we get to the most compelling aspect: how Messi and Ronaldo would play together as a couple. They would have gotten in the way of each other a few years ago, but have adapted their play styles and their game as they get older and. It’s entirely feasible that they fit in well, with Messi as a deep creator and Ronaldo as the poacher of the penalty area.
Of course, it wouldn’t be PSG’s most progressive play, especially if the arrival of Messi and Ronaldo resulted in the departure of Mbappé. The French forward has the makings of a future Ballon d’Or, a talent to define the next era of European football. Losing Mbappé would be an even higher price for PSG to pay than anything written on a checkbook.
And yet the prospect of pairing Messi and Ronaldo in the Parc des Princes could prove irresistible. PSG isn’t the most universally popular club in the game, but it could do soccer fans everywhere a favor by paying whatever it takes to forge the most fearsome attacking force ever seen.
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