One of football’s greatest ever players has anything but fond memories of his time in the French capital. Lionel Messi (37) left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain with the aspiration of leading the French giants to European glory.
Two seasons at PSG was all the 2022 World Cup winner could handle, and though he failed to take them to a UEFA Champions League title, he won two Ligue 1 crowns and the Trophée des Champions during his brief spell.
The Argentine captain is currently at Inter Miami CF in Major League Soccer (MLS), who recently won the Supporters’ Shield for the best record in the regular season.
Brecht Dejaegere (33) recently spoke to a Belgian news outlet, RTBF, about a recent conversation he had with Messi following a match between Miami and his former club Charlotte FC.
After the match ended, Dejaegere asked Messi about his time in Paris.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner summed it up in one word: ‘la mierda’, which in English translates to ‘s**t’.
Dejargere and Messi had faced each other before when the Belgian was playing his club football at Toulouse FC, and Messi was at PSG.
According to Dejaegere, who now features Kortrijk in the Belgian Pro League, Messi was fed up with the negativity around Les Parisiens during his two seasons at the club, where he was constantly whistled and booed.
Despite the club boasting an array of talented attacking players, including Messi’s former Barça teammate Neymar and current Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappé, PSG failed to go beyond the last 16 of the Champions League in their two seasons with Messi.
When Messi joined Inter Miami, he admitted that he did not want to leave the Catalonian club, calling the move to Paris an overnight decision.
“It was difficult in Paris, but it is quite the opposite of what is going on with me here and now,” said Messi.
While he failed to deliver on the club’s ultimate goal to win the Champions League, Messi still put together two strong campaigns for Les Parisiens. He scored 21 goals and 20 assists in his final season at PSG before coming to MLS on a free transfer in July 2023.
Before coming to PSG, Messi won four Champions League titles at Barça and was the tournament’s top scorer on six occasions.
