Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo has cooled talk of a potential move for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi next summer.
Messi, who asked to leave Barcelona earlier this year, will be out of contract in 2021, and former team-mate Neymar recently fuelled speculation of a move to Paris by admitting that he ‘has to’ play alongside Messi again next year.
Talks between PSG and Messi are said to have started back in the summer of 2020 once the Argentine’s desire to leave Camp Nou first emerged, with Leonardo reported to have kept an open line of communication with Messi about a possible move to Paris.
Whether that is actually going on behind the scenes is unknown, but Leonardo has publicly played down talk of such a move by insisting that he wouldn’t disrespect Barcelona by talking about Messi while he is still contracted to the Spanish side. Continue reading