After two seasons in the French capital, Leo Messi’s adventure with Paris Saint-Germain will come to an end at the conclusion of the 2022–23 campaign. The club would like to extend its warmest thanks to the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, who also lifted a Trophée des Champions and two Ligue 1 titles with Les Rouge et Bleu.
On 29th August 2021, in Reims, Ligue 1 lapped up La Pulga’s big debut in French football. 74 appearances later, the Argentine ace has left a mark on France and on Europe with his talent, scoring 32 goals – the first of which came against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League on 28th September 2021 – as well as notching up 35 assists for Paris Saint-Germain.
Having been crowned a French league champion in his first year in the capital, the no. 30 also took home France Football’s prestigious Ballon d’Or award over the course of that same season – the seventh of an immense career.
A winner of the recent FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Argentina captain has also shone for Paris Saint-Germain throughout the 2022–23 season. On top of his 16 goals in 31 Ligue 1 games, he is the league’s top assist provider, with 16 assists to his name, just shy of the record set by his compatriot Angel Di María (18).
Against Strasbourg on Matchday 37 of Ligue 1, Messi wrote his name even further into the history books by scoring his 496th goal in Europe’s top five leagues, thereby setting another incredible record.
Paris Saint-Germain is proud to have had the greatest footballer of all time within its ranks and, with some emotion, wishes Leo many more successes for the rest of his career.
“I would like to thank the club, the city of Paris and its people for these two years. I wish you all the best for the future”, said Leo Messi.
“I would like to thank Leo Messi for his two seasons in Paris. To see a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner in the Rouge & Bleu and at Parc des Princes, winning back-to-back Ligue 1 titles and inspiring our younger players has been a pleasure.” said Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, Chairman and CEO of Paris Saint-Germain. “His contribution to Paris Saint-Germain and Ligue 1 cannot be understated and we wish Leo and his family all the best for the future.”
