PSG was tempted to sign Lionel Messi, but Barcelona gets last laugh

Almost all clubs want Lionel Messi to be on their side. Recently, when the 33-year old Argentine informed FC Barcelona that he wants to leave the club where he spent his entire career so far, many clubs were eager to sign him.

Among the most heavyweight contenders, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain emerged to be the favourites to sign the six-time Ballon d'Or winner. In a recent interview, Paris Saint-Germain director Leonardo Nascimento de Araújo admitted that his club was tempted by the thought of signing Messi.

The director of the Ligue 1 champions said, the moment news broke out about Messi's willingness to leave Camp Nou, his club was interested to bring him to Le Parc des Princes. However, he also said that it would have been financially difficult for the French side to make any move involving Messi.

According to Barca Blaugranes, de Araújo said, "We certainly thought about it. There's a complicated situation with Financial Fair Play, but when we heard Messi could be on the market... it tempted us. We asked ourselves if it really was possible. There are some players who are completely out of the ordinary. The problem now is that all the clubs need to sell before they can buy and PSG are no different. But it's difficult because nobody is buying."

Meanwhile, Messi announced in an interview over the weekend that he will stay at Camp Nou for another year until his legal contract expires. Previously, he wanted to exercise a specific clause in his contract that would have allowed him to leave Barcelona for free at the end of each season.

But according to the club authorities, his clause expired on June 10. Therefore, it meant that whoever wanted to sign Messi must pay the Catalans a whopping 700 million euros (GBP 628.84 million) as his transfer fee.

Understandably, the Catalans don't want their best player to leave. Meanwhile, La Liga expert Terry Gibson has named Messi the "King of Catalunya." Gibson, who had previously worked as a Spanish scout for Manchester City, wants the Argentine star to spend the remainder of his top-level career at Camp Nou.

It is expected that the Barca board would offer him a fresh contract in 2021. Now the question remains if Messi would continue at Barca beyond the expiry of his current contract.