Messi makes PSG contract decision as Barca lurk after ’embarrassing’ whistles during Lyon loss | OneFootball

Lionel Messi will reportedly leave Paris Saint-Germain when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Rumours of a return to Barcelona are heating up and the Catalan club’s vice-president Rafa recently said contact has been made over a reunion.

This news has not gone down well with the PSG fan base, who jeered Messi during their 1-0 defeat at home to Lyon on Sunday.

Messi’s former Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry was highly critical of the supporters who whistled and booed and has urged the Argentine hero to return to the Nou Camp.

“It’s embarrassing to hear whistles from the Parc,” Henry said.

“You can’t whistle one of the best players on the team, who has 13 goals and 13 assists this season.

“Personally, I would like to see him finish his career at Barcelona, in Europe.

“After that, I don’t know what he will do. Because the way he left Barcelona after everything he did…

“I didn’t really like it. For the love of football, he should go back to Barcelona.”

Former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Emmanuel Petit also claimed that such treatment of Messi is an “insult to football”.

And it is now being reported that the 35-year-old will not remain in the French capital beyond the 2022-23 campaign.

French outlet RMC Sport reported a few weeks ago that one of Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar would leave this summer.

And, ‘unless the situation turns around’, the player to depart is going to be the Barcelona legend.

It is noted that PSG can trigger a one-year extension in Messi’s contract, though ‘both parties’ have to reach an agreement.

Messi and PSG actually reached an ‘agreement’ on his salary after last year’s World Cup – which the player won as Argentina captain – but the lack of a signature should prove to be extremely significant.

Following his success in Qatar, Messi’s ‘ties’ with the Parisiens have ‘loosened’ and his ‘environment’ are ‘on the lookout for a better contract’.

PSG’s hierarchy could tempt the Argentine hero to stay if they make his extension a ‘priority’, however, even if a ‘yes’ is not guaranteed.

Barcelona are ‘not hiding’ their desire to bring Messi back and a famous reunion does seem likely even though the La Liga leaders cannot offer him as much money as PSG can.

The whistles from some supporters has strained an already ‘jagged relationship between Messi and the Paris environment’, it is added.