Bengaluru, August 11: Argentine star footballer Lionel Messi on Tuesday (August 10) completed his much anticipated move to Ligue 1 side Paris Saint Germain.
Messi on Thursday (August 5) ended a two-decade long exceptionally successful career at Barcelona after the two parties decided not to renew the contract, which expired in June. And with that news, the rumours started to swirl as some of the top clubs were linked with the star forward.
In the end, PSG, funded for a decade by Qatari sovereign wealth, one of the few clubs in the world that could finance the signing, made the transfer official and got the chance to reunite Messi with Brazil forward Neymar.
Messi joins PSG: The Opta numbers that emphasise Leo's extraordinary Barcelona career
With Messi, Neymar and France World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, the PSG trio will try to live upto their title as the deadliest forward line in football history.
While PSG had to pay 222 million euros (then 261 million USD) to sign Neymar from Barcelona in 2017, the Paris based club had to pay no fee for Messi, who was signed on a free.
Messi in fact was not the only player signed on a free by the Ligue 1 side in 2021 Summer Window as the likes of Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Georginio Wijnaldum also moved as free agents alongside the reported €60 million, potentially rising by €11 million in add-ons transfer of Archaf Hakimi.
Lionel Messi joins Neymar and Mbappe at PSG
Now as Messi settles in his new home, we take a look at his jersey number, salary and contract details:
Messi PSG Salary and Contract Details
The former Barcelona forward is reportedly set to earn around 35 million euros (41 million USD) net annually and his two-year deal has an option for a further season. The reported salary of 35 million euros in Indian Rupees is INR 3,05,12,61,000 (approximately 305 Crores).
Messi PSG Jersey Number
Messi wore the number 10 at Barcelona and still sports the number 10 at his national side, but with his pal Neymar already sporting the iconic number 10 at the French capital club, the former Barca star has opted for a different number.
Reports have suggested that Neymar offered make the number available to his close friend but the record six-time Ballon d'Or winner rejected and preferred to revert to one of his former numbers.
Video: Lionel Messi wears number 30 jersey with PSG. This via @OsvaldoGodoy_01. https://t.co/wN1aZMBA45
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) August 10, 2021
The Argentine captain was rumoured to opt for his old number 19 jersey. But now it appears that Messi is all set to don number 30, his first number at Barcelona, at the Paris-based club.