How much did PSG pay for Messi?

When Lionel Messi arrived in PSG, he did it with only one thing in mind: winning the Champions League with the Parisians, a title they’ve been longing for a long time. And after the 1-0 victory on the first leg of the round of 16 against Real Madrid, it seemed that this was the year where PSG was finally going to lift the European Cup for the first time.

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But for the second leg, Messi simply disappeared from the pitch, as he didn’t have any dangerous plays and couldn’t help Kylian Mbappé to maintain the score in their favor, as the young Frenchman seemed to be the only PSG player trying to win the game, especially during the first half, when he had to goals that were disallowed and a third one that make it to the scoreboard.

That didn’t prevent the comeback of Real Madrid orchestrated by Karim Benzema, although it was Donnarumma who open the possibility, as his mistake gave Los Merengues the possibility of tying the score in Santiago Bernabéu.

PSG was eliminated by a 3-2 aggregate score where Messi didn’t intervene, showing that the investment made by Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and Oryx Qatar Sports Investments was unfruitful and that the Argentine striker is far from the performances he got the world used to when he was with Barcelona.

How much did PSG pay for Messi?

It’s no lie to say that Lionel Messi is one of the best soccer players of all times, as he’s won the Ballon d’Or seven times, is the player that has won most titles with a club -35, with FC Barcelona-, and most goals scored in a natural year, 92 in 2012.

That’s why when he arrived in PSG for the current season, people imagined that he was going to break every record in Ligue 1, as it isn’t as competitive as La Liga, and that his arrival will finally give the Parisian team the desired Champions League title that they haven’t been able to win.

The bright side for PSG, is that they didn’t have to pay a single dollar to FC Barcelona to acquire Lionel Messi, as he was a free agent given that La Liga rules didn’t allow him to resign with the Blaugranas. The downside for the Parisian team is that they’re paying the Argentina international a salary of $41 million per year.

The current season can already be cataloged as a failure, but Messi will have another chance the next year to show why he’s worth $41 million per season, a figure that, so far, hasn’t been reflect on the pitch.

What’s the closest PSG has been of winning Champions League?

The closest PSG has been of winning Champions League was in the 2019-20 season, as they were runner-ups but Bayern Munich ended up winning 1-0 the game with a goal scored by Kingsley Coman. Before that, the closest they’ve been to lifting the European Cup was in the 1994-95 season and the 2020-21 season, where they arrived at semifinals.

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