The truth about Messi's move to PSG

"Lies have been spoken. I did everything I could to stay. I agreed to a 50% wage cut and I wasn't asked to do anything more". These were the words of Leo Messi during his tearful farewell press conference on Sunday, just three days after Barcelona had released a 12-line press release announcing that the player would not be signing a new contract at the club. 48 hours after this press release, Laporta held a press conference of his own in which he claimed it was impossible to tie Messi down to a new deal due to the terrible financial state in which he inherited the club.

Between Thursday 5 August, when it was announced that Messi would be leaving FC Barcelona, and Tuesday 10 August, when his signing was announced by PSG, the Argentina captain experienced a whirlwind of emotions that he has still not overcome. His display of emotions has shown that the move was a sudden, spontaneous reaction to Barça's announcement, and that it had not been planned in advance as various media outlets have suggested.

THE FIRST CALL FROM PSG

On the morning of Thursday 5 August, Messi was convinced that he would sign a new 5-year deal with FC Barcelona. What came next was a consequence of Laporta's decision, due to the club's awful financial situation, to break the agreement that existed between both parties. Once Laporta had broken off negotiations, things started to move quickly. The first contact with PSG came when the French club's sporting director, Leonardo, sent a message to Jorge Messi on Thursday evening. He asked him if it was true that Messi wasn't going to sign a new deal, and asked if it would be possible to talk about a possible move. Messi's father agreed, and formal negotiations began on Friday 6 August.

TWO OTHER CLUBS SHOWED AN INTEREST

On Friday 6 August, Leonardo rang Jorge Messi and told him of PSG's intention to sign the player. The French club were very interested in acquiring the services of the Argentina captain, and were willing to accelerate negotiations in order to reach a rapid agreement. On the same day, Leonardo made a first official offer which was considered very attractive by Messi and father. Two other clubs had contacted Jorge regarding his son's situation: Chelsea, whose approach was official, and Atlético de Madrid, who made a more informal approach via an intermediary. However, Leo had no interest in playing for another LaLiga team so as to avoid playing against Barça. After assessing his options, the player felt that the offer made by PSG was the most attractive on a sporting level, and he was also keen to play alongside Neymar once more.

INTENSE NEGOTIATIONS

Intense negotiations were held between the two parties on Saturday and Sunday, with meetings lasting several hours and documents changing hands until the early hours of the morning. Once a definitive agreement had been reached (with the player agreeing to earn much less than the €120 million reported by Le Parisien), the contract was drawn up on Monday. Despite being a highly complex process, it was done relatively quickly. On Tuesday morning, the player flew to Paris to sign a two-year deal with the option of an additional year.

Messi and his family are currently staying in the Royal Monceau hotel in central Paris, which is further proof that the deal was completed in a matter of days and had not been planned in advance. Not only does the family not have a house sorted, but Messi's children - Thiago, Mateo and Ciro - aren't signed up to a local school yet either. Leo and wife Antonela haven't had a chance to visit potential houses yet. The whole family is exhausted with the events of recent days, with Leo due to train with his new team mates for the first time today.

IMPOSSIBLE TO STAY AT BARÇA

Messi's entourage feel that it was never possible for him to stay at the club, because it wasn't down to money. According to SPORT sources, in the contract that Messi was willing to sign on Thursday 5 August, he had agreed to earn only 10 million euros during the first year of his five-year contract. The purpose of this would have been to give Laporta an extra year to turn around the club's terrible financial situation.

As such, Messi's entourage are not fully convinced that Barça did everything they could, despite Laporta's frequent claims to the contrary, to get the player to stay. However, sources close to the club suggest that he was not able to sign due to the shocking financial state in which Bartomeu left the club and due to the strict FFP laws that are implemented in LaLiga.