Lionel Messi likely to leave PSG at end of season

Paris: Lionel Messi is ‘much more likely’ to leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season than sign a new deal, sources say.

"The dynamics have completely changed with PSG less pushing to renew (his contract)," the source said, adding that there was "no deal, no exit yet. But exit is much more likely."

The star footballer who will turn 36 in June, joined in 2021 on a two-year deal that expires at the end of this campaign.

Supporters of the Qatar-owned club are unhappy at the malaise around the team after they were eliminated from the Champions League in the last 16 by Bayern Munich last month.

Messi’s form has dipped since he led Argentina to glory at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year.

On Saturday, the Ligue 1 defending champions suffered their seventh defeat of the season at home to Lyon, with some PSG fans expressing their displeasure with the Argentine by whistling and booing his name when it was announced.

PSG have lost eight times in 18 games in 2023, a run which has seen them go out of the French Cup prematurely although they remain six points clear at the top of the French table.

According to the fans, the club has failed to build a genuinely competitive team.

"The fans have changed things completely," the source said of the chances of Messi's deal being renewed and the supporters' reaction at the weekend.

Messi is currently costing PSG around 40 million euros ($43.6 million) a year in wages at a time when the club has to keep in line with UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules.

There have also been suggestions they could offer the player a new deal on a reduced salary.

Barcelona has been openly courting Messi, hoping to persuade the Argentine to return to Camp Nou two years after he left the club where he won four Champions League titles. He left Barcelona when the club could not afford to renew his contract.

“I would love it if he returned," Barca vice-president Rafael Yuste said last week as he admitted there had been "contact" with Messi.

He has also been linked with a possible move to Major League Soccer.

If Messi leaves PSG, the club would likely be doubly determined to keep hold of Kylian Mbappe for at least one more season, a year after persuading the France striker to sign a new deal and turn down overtures from Real Madrid.

Coach Christophe Galtier has also come under intense pressure following recent results.

Messi has scored 29 goals and set up 32 more in 67 appearances for PSG in all competitions.