Paris Saint-Germain and Lionel Messi are in negotiations on a contract after financially troubled Barcelona was unable to keep the superstar, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Messi’s legal team is in Paris and negotiations have seen an annual net salary of around 25 million euros ($29.5 million) discussed which would be lower than his Barcelona pay, the person said on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing talks.
Barcelona has announced that Messi will give a news conference at the Camp Nou on Sunday at noon local time (1000 GMT) but has not specified what it is about.
Barcelona bid farewell to Messi in statements and social media posts on Thursday, making him the most desired free agent in soccer history after his contract expired. The Catalan club had hoped to keep Messi, who agreed to a pay cut, but it still wouldn’t have complied with the Spanish league’s financial regulations.
PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino was in contact with his fellow Argentine as Barcelona announced on Thursday that Messi would be leaving the club he joined as a 13-year-old before winning every major trophy and world player of the year titles.
Funded for a decade by Qatari sovereign wealth, PSG is one of the few clubs in the world that can finance a deal. The club is exploring sponsorship deals in South America on the back of being able to sign Messi.
There was no immediate response from Messi’s media team. PSG, which was opening its French league campaign later Saturday against Troyes, didn’t respond to an email with questions seeking comment.
AP Sports Writers Jerome Pugmire in Paris, and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed to this report.
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