Despite his inexhaustible fortune, did Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani even believe he could, one day, afford such a player to add him to his sports showcase? Ten years after buying Paris-Saint-Germain, the Emir of Qatar sees the Argentinian prodigy Lionel Messi, best footballer at the start of XXIe century, put on the jersey of the club of the capital.
At the end of five days of negotiations carried out briskly, the ex-star of FC Barcelona gave his agreement, Tuesday, August 10, to evolve with the team coached by his compatriot Mauricio Pochettino: he committed, in the evening , for two seasons, with an optional additional year (against an annual salary of more than 30 million euros, excluding bonuses).
At the end of the contract, a free party for “Barça” for budgetary reasons, the 34-year-old striker landed in the afternoon at Le Bourget airport, where he received a standing ovation from several hundred supporters. Inconsolable Sunday, during theatrical farewell to socios blaugrana, the “Pulga” quickly dried her tears. “Here is Paris”, could we read on his white T-Shirt chosen to better treat his arrival.
“A planetary event”
After his medical examination at the American hospital of Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine), the six-fold Golden Ball made a detour through the Parc des Princes to pose with his new jersey and then greet the tifosi Parisians, before moving to the Royal Monceau hotel. It was to be officially presented at a press conference on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the auditorium of the Parc des Princes.
Could the managers of the Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) fund better celebrate this decade spent at the head of PSG than by recruiting the quadruple winner of the Champions League and top scorer in the history of FC Barcelona (672 goals in 778 matches with Barça)?
Qualifying it as“Planetary event”, the president of the Professional Football League (LFP), Vincent Labrune emphasizes that this purchase of opportunity is the “Fruit of the strategy of the leaders of the PSG”. In this case, the Argentine, who was the man of one club since his arrival at the Barcelona training center at the age of 13, becomes the new head of the gas emirate on the chessboard. sports diplomacy.
Build a brand
The transaction crowns a decade of pharaonic investments made by Tamim Al-Thani to build a brand, whose notoriety is supposed to consolidate the image of Qatar across the globe. ” The stages Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2012), David Beckham (2013), Neymar (2017) and now Messi have been indispensable and decisive in allowing the club to become a great global franchise., underlines Alain Cayzac, ex-president of PSG (2006-2008) under the Colony Capital era and remained close to the Qataris. We send a signal when we make this type of player want to come to Paris. ”
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