Lionel Messi issued a thinly-veiled parting shot towards Paris Saint-Germain as he offered some brutal advice to their superstar forward Kylian Mbappe.
The 35-year-old icon will depart the French capital this summer after two years with at the Parc Des Princes club, which followed an illustrious near two decades at Barcelona. A move to MLS now beckons for the World Cup winner, with Inter Miami his next destination as he looks towards a new chapter stateside after a staggering 43 trophies for club and country in the years previous.
However, the Argentinian legend does not seem content with leaving France quietly, seemingly privately sticking the boot in on his soon to be former employers. According to Spanish outlet Spanish outlet Defensa Central, the former Camp Nou hero implored his teammate to move to a more successful club in the future.
As per the report, Messi is claimed to have expressed his preference for the France forward to join Barcelona, while also accepting that old foes Real Madrid may offer a similar route to silverware. He said: "I prefer that you go to Barça but if you want to go to Madrid, do it, you deserve a real winning project."
While it is true that Messi did add to his extensive medal collection while at PSG — winning two Ligue 1 titles — his time in France was fraught at times. In fact, his spell ended somewhat tumultuously after the club issued him with an internal suspension after the player took an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia.
It was subsequently announced that he would leave the club with Inter Miami eventually winning the battle for his coveted signature. The world famous attacker had been linked with a switch back to his former club Barcelona and also the Saudi Pro League before he decided to move to South Beach.
Although Mbappe has won five Ligue 1 titles since joining the club from Monaco in 2017, the coveted prize of the Champions League has evaded PSG in that time, in spite of the club boasting a host of world famous stars during this period. The prolific marksman has, of course, been linked with a move away from Paris in the past, with his flirtation with Real Madrid in 2022 surely the closest he has come to departing to date.
In the end, the forward personally called Los Blancos president Florentino Perez to inform him of his decision to stay put despite the interest from the Spanish giants. The drama did not end there, though, as La Liga officials proceeded to lodge a complaint in regards to the accumulating losses of PSG over the years previous.
Eventually, the 2018 World Cup winner did sign a new contract to stay in the French capital, with the saga having dominated the headlines in the lead up to the summer. In spite of the superstar having committed himself to Le Parisiens until 2024, however, uncertainty has surrounded his future in the January transfer window which followed, as well as heading into this summer.
On both occasions, the Frenchman has been adamant that his short term future does not lie elsewhere, while he did eventually concede that he would not be signing a new deal. Addressing speculation that he could depart this summer in a Tweet, he reaffirmed his desire to 'continue at PSG next season, where [he is] very happy'.
