Paris (EFE).- Paris Saint Germain and Lionel Messi are close to divorce, according to the French press, given the pressure on the club to reduce its wage bill and doubts about whether it needs a thorough reconstruction of its squad.
The team’s coach, Christophe Galtier, is also on the trigger, after the last defeats in the league, the most recent last Sunday, 0-1 against Lyon, mean that the club has not secured the title this season.
For L’Equipe, the only possibility for the Argentine star to stay in Paris at the end of his contract, on June 30, is that he accept a significant reduction in his record, since PSG must lose weight in its salary mass to meet UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
The sports newspaper points out that the club has proposed to Messi a reduction of a quarter of his millionaire salary, because PSG “is not willing to do everything to keep La Pulga” in its squad, taking into account that in June he will already be 36 years old. .
And he also remembers the last siren songs of Barcelona, who would like to have his historic figure back to end their long relationship in the best of ways, even if the financial situation of the Catalan club (which should also give sharp cut to his salary mass) would not allow him to offer a great contract to Messi either.
The situation coincides with the whistles and booing of the Argentine star, like the ones heard last Sunday in the Parque de los Príncipes when the public address system announced his name in the Parisian lineup, in contrast to the cheers that came from the local figure, Kylian Mbappé.
Messi scored 12 goals and gave 14 assists in the 19 games he played before the World Cup in Qatar, but he has barely scored 6 goals and three decisive passes in 14 games after winning the global title with his team.
Messi’s low performance is, for Le Parisien, “the symbol of decline” of PSG in recent months, after falling in the Champions League again in the round of 16, this time against Bayern Munich.
In the meantime, PSG could be thinking very seriously about dispensing with Galtier if they fail to turn the ship around in the next league games.
After their last defeats and with nine games to go, the Parisian club only leads Lens and Marseille by six points, so the championship could escape them after their great dream, the Champions League, faded when they were eliminated again in the round of 16.
Galtier is a matter of “weeks or days”, says Le Parisien, which states that even if the coach ends the season, there is very little chance that he will continue on the PSG bench.
For RMC Sports, if the coach does not put the team back together in the next two league games, his period on the Parisian bench could come to an abrupt end.
Arriving last season after his good performances at Lille (they won the 2020/21 league), the coach faces the same challenge as his predecessors: giving an all-star team a recognizable and effective system of play.
According to Le Parisien, Galtier is blamed for his “indulgence” when it comes to demanding the stars, while he treats the rest “firmly”.
In addition, his relationship with the club’s sports adviser, the Portuguese Luis Campos, has deteriorated significantly in recent weeks.
