Lionel Messi spoke about the challenges he faced last year after moving to Paris from Barcelona. The Argentine also revealed that his children adapted well and made new friends quickly.
Due to their financial struggles and La Liga wage rules, Barcelona were unable to renew Messi’s contract in 2021. Messi had to unwillingly end his 21-year association with his boyhood club and he joined PSG on a free transfer last summer.
Messi’s first year did not go according to plan as he ended up scoring just 11 goals in 34 games across competitions. Many have linked his on-pitch struggles to his off-pitch adaptation to life in France. Speaking to ESPN Argentina, Messi explained the difficulties he faced in moving to a different country after spending the majority of his life in Barcelona. He said:
“The boys are the ones who best adapted. It was what worried us the most and it was the easiest of all… for them to start school, for them to make new friends, it was something very normal, very simple.
“I remember leaving them at school and leaving crying, suffering for them. In Barcelona, we had made our life. It’s not easy to arrive in a new place with a different language. We thought they were going to have a bad time and none of that.”
Lionel Messi suffered on the pitch with PSG after joining from Barcelona
While Lionel Messi has admitted it was difficult for him to adapt to everyday life with his family after moving countries, he had a difficult time on the pitch as well. The PSG star managed only six goals in 26 league appearances last season.
However, things have looked completely different for the the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner this season. Messi has five goals and seven assists in nine league matches so far. He also has two goals and one assist in the Champions League.
Lionel Messi has admitted that he will be playing in his final World Cup later this year.
“It’s my last World Cup. Probably yes. I feel good, physically, I was able to do a very good preseason this year that I hadn’t been able to do the year before, it was essential to start in a different way and to arrive as I did, with a great mentality and a lot of delusion”.
However, his future at club level remains undecided, with Barcelona keen on a reunion.
