Lionel Messi’s future at Paris Saint-Germain is up in the air, and if it were up to former French forward Jerome Rothen, he would not push to keep the Argentine forward with the reigning Ligue 1 champions.
On RMC Sport’s “Rothen s’enflamme” program, Rothen laid out a case as to why PSG should not keep Messi past the ongoing season, noting that the club should look to reinvest in the squad instead.
“Managing the three is complicated,” Rothen said. “After that, there is the wage bill. And we saw that PSG is blocked with the financial fair play. Because the wage bill has exploded. There, you have the opportunity to recover a large amount of money because the salary of Messi is substantial. It can allow you to recruit and improve your squad.
“For all that, it’s a very bad idea to extend Leo Messi.”
Messi is currently set to hit free agency in the upcoming summer transfer window. PSG football advisor Luis Campos did recently note that the club is in “discussions” with the Argentine forward regarding a possible new contract deal.
Messi has been a standout performer in Ligue 1 play this season, logging 20 goal contributions in 18 such matches played.
Neymar Jr. has returned to training for Paris Saint-Germain after dealing with groin pain as the capital prepares for its Coupe de France Round of 16 clash against Olympique de Marseille on Wednesday at Stade Vélodrome.
It will be up to manager Christophe Galtier to determine whether the 31-year-old can handle the challenging task of playing in Le Classique coming off an injury. Nonetheless, if the Brazilian cannot go, at least to start the fixture, former French coach Raymond Domenech isn’t too concerned as he believes Lionel Messi can lead the PSG attack.
“He has a team at PSG that is actually built like Argentina’s,” Domenech told L’Equipe (h/t TyC Sports). “They are all at the service of Messi; that’s going to make a difference.
Messi led the attack for most of the contest against Montpellier after Kylian Mbappe exited the matchup with a left thigh injury and is now out for three weeks. Additionally, the Argentine also led the unit in the French giant’s 2-1 win over Toulouse FC on Saturday.
It will be interesting to see if the 35-year-old can do it for a third time and in a hostile
