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Paris Saint-Germain are exploring the possibility of signing Lionel Messi from Barcelona in the summer, sources told ESPN.
Messi wanted to leave Barça in August following the 8-2 Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich, and sources told ESPN at the time that Manchester City led the chase to sign him.
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However, sources have told ESPN that Neymar and PSG sporting director Leonardo also discussed bringing the Argentine international to France at the time and have not lost interest in him since.
Messi cannot leave Barca until next summer, but he can start negotiating a possible move with interested clubs on January 1.
Barça will elect a new president on January 24 after the resignation of Josep Maria Bartomeu, which may affect Messi’s decision to stay or leave the club.
“I can’t talk about it right now,” PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Thursday when asked about Messi’s future.
After PSG’s 3-1 win against Manchester United on Wednesday, Neymar told ESPN that he wanted to play with Messi next season.
“What I want the most is to play with Messi again, to be able to enjoy him again on the pitch,” Neymar said.
“He can play in my place, I have no problem with that! But I want to play with him next year, for sure. We have to do it next season.”
Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez have remained close since their days together at Barcelona, and all three have a WhatsApp group where they still talk.
Messi is also close to Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes and Rafinha, who are also in Paris.
Messi’s salary mass will be one of the obstacles for PSG, since he earns 60 million euros a year at Barcelona, much more than Neymar’s 36 million euros or Kylian Mbappé’s 20 million euros in the PSG.
Sources have told ESPN that the immediate priority for the club is to secure extensions to Neymar and Mbappé’s contracts.
