Saturday night in Paris, Lionel Messi will wear PSG’s iconic Hechter stripes for one last time. The end was inevitable after his vacation in Saudi Arabia with his family for fulfilling a lucrative contract with the country’s tourism department. He was subsequently banned for practice, benched for two games and rumours began to whirl about his next destination. PSG didn’t cry; nor did Messi. It was like the end of a business deal, neither carrying the burden of emotion. But then, it was business from the start — a million-dollar deal, where PSG could parade its prized jewel, sell millions of jerseys worldwide, lift its image and build the fan-base.
It’s not that Messi was not influential at PSG. He scored 21 times, assisted 20 goals in a 40-match sojourn, and won league titles in both seasons. But there was neither magic nor madness. There were Messi goals, but few Messi moments. The mouth-watering trident of Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar never really fired in unison. Perhaps, the departure of Messi, and in all likelihood Neymar, will unburden the club. It was different at Camp Nou — it was system over individual, philosophy over money, beauty over success.
