Inter Miami star Lionel Messi didn’t enjoy his time at Paris Saint-Germain, apparently telling an opponent that life at the Ligue 1 club was “crap”.
Messi was expected to bring the Champions League trophy to Paris when he moved to the French giants in 2021. But, while the Argentinian landed back-to-back Ligue 1 titles, he, alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, ultimately failed in his mission and left after only two years, signing for Inter Miami in MLS – where’s he enjoyed a much happier spell.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner apparently opened up on his PSG misery when he spoke to former Charlotte FC midfielder Brecht Dejaegere after an Inter Miami game.
Not only did PSG struggle in Europe, exiting at the last-16 in both of Messi’s seasons, but he was infamously suspended for two weeks in May 2023 after travelling to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission. His exit was announced a month later.
“At the final whistle, I asked him if he felt better in Miami than in France,” Dejaegere told RTBF. “He was surprised: I told him that I had played against him with Toulouse at the Parc des Princes. He didn’t remember me, but it was my childhood dream come true. Messi has always been my favourite player! It was crazy to meet him. And so, that day, he told me that for him, at PSG, it was ‘crap’. Yes, ‘crap’. Because if at the beginning, the welcome from the Parisians had been good, he had been taken against following the failure in the Champions League: he was whistled at every ball and he was fed up.”
Messi has since gone on to become a hero in the United States, helping to propel soccer to another level in the country thanks to his impact at Inter Miami. The 37-year-old has just returned from injury to help the Herons to Supporters’ Shield glory, and the MLS Cup is next on their radar.
Goal.com
