Lionel Messi Reveals He Had Offers from ‘Various Clubs’ Before Signing PSG Contract

AP Photo/Christophe Ena

Paris Saint-Germain star Lionel Messi revealed Saturday that he had offers from multiple clubs following his Barcelona departure over the summer.

Speaking to L’Equipe (h/t ESPN’s Alex Kirkland), Messi said:

“I was lucky to be contacted by various clubs and one of them was Paris Saint-Germain. I’m grateful to the club. They treated me well from the beginning. They showed that they really wanted me.

“I had other offers, but I have to say that we came to an agreement quickly with PSG. It wasn’t straightforward because everything had to be sorted out in a short amount of time, practically from one day to the next. … I was convinced by the project, the club’s ambitions, the players they have, the squad. … All of these factors.”

While Messi expressed a desire to leave Barca last year, the two sides repaired their relationship, and Messi was set to sign an extension prior to the expiration of his contract in June.

Due to financial issues, however, Barcelona had to rescind its offer, thus making arguably the greatest soccer player of all time a free agent.

It wasn’t long before Messi agreed to join PSG on a two-year deal, with it becoming official on Aug. 11.

The 34-year-old Messi has seemingly been a good fit at PSG thus far, as the club is atop the Ligue 1 standings with 24 points in nine matches, putting it six points ahead of second-place Lens.

While the goals have not come in bunches for Messi, he did manage his first and only goal for the club in a 2-0 UEFA Champions League win over Manchester City last month.

PSG likely beat out some big-name clubs to land Messi’s services, and now that he is in the fold, it has a chance to win the Champions League for the first time in club history.