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The consensus that Messi underperformed at Paris Saint-Germain does not hold water.
Despite Inter Miami’s long-standing interest in Lionel Messi, there was an expectation of a Barcelona return or a move to the Saudi Pro League after it became apparent the World Cup winner was not staying at Paris Saint-Germain.
However, the Argentina superstar disclosed that a move to Major League Soccer is in the offing, with the transfer’s finer details yet to be signed off.
While Messi becomes one of many illustrious players to make the switch, only Pele and David Beckham’s transfers come close in adulation. The late Brazilian’s move in the 1970s and Beckham’s in the 2000s precipitated a seismic impact on American football, and the former Barcelona man should be no different.
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21:01 - 07.06.2023
Messi's transfer to Inter Miami sees MLS ticket prices spike from $81 to a staggering $422
According to reports, Lionel Messi imminent transfer to Inter Miami has seen the price of the club's matchday tickets in the MLS increase sporadically.
Admittedly, the MLS is in a stronger position now than it was when those two megastars moved to the league but Messi's expected entrance should positively affect league-wide attendance, international exposure, merchandise sales and attracting other top talent.
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18:29 - 07.06.2023
3 reasons why Messi chose Inter Miami over Barcelona and Al Hilal
We review three of the reasons why Messi chose the offer from Inter Miami over Barcelona and Al-Hilal.
With that out of the way, how about recollecting the 35-year-old’s time with PSG?
What did Messi win with PSG?
After losing the Ligue 1 title following Mauricio Pochettino’s mid-season arrival, the Parisians reclaimed the top-flight title in the Argentine’s debut campaign in France.
They retained the honour in the just-concluded season, having claimed the Trophee des Champions against Nantes last July, even if the Champions League eluded the French giants in those two seasons.
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Messi’s continued inability to influence European games was striking as the Parisians were eliminated by Real Madrid in 2021-22 and Bayern Munich in 2022-23.
Nevertheless, was the 2022 World Cup winner a busted flush in Ligue 1, as stated relentlessly?
What Messi’s Ligue 1 stats reveal about his two-year spell
An unsurprisingly slow start to life in Paris saw Messi fail to score in his opening five appearances and register an assist for six Ligue 1 games before facing Nantes and Saint-Etienne, respectively.
The Argentine’s four goal involvements (one goal and three assists) pointed to his adaptation to new surroundings, but only one more contribution (an assist against Monaco) was registered at the end of 2021.
It was undoubtedly an underwhelming first half of the season for Messi, but the rest of his spell was productive for the most part.
The New Year began with the summer arrival in top form, contributing seven goals in his first five Ligue 1 appearances of 2022, with eight more involvements taking him to 15 in the second half of the season.
His second season in France produced 32 goal contributions (16 goals, 16 assists), a beyond respectable return for the World Cup winner, even if PSG’s Champions League disappointment continued the schadenfreude directed at the former Barcelona star.
A goal or assist per game (32 Ligue 1 appearances) in one of Europe’s top-five leagues was a respectable return and an improvement on year one when he registered 20 contributions.
The underlying numbers in 22-23 were commendable: 17 big chances created in 21-22 became 29 in the just-concluded campaign, while the playmaker’s Expected Assists (xA) in year one and year two was 8.8 and 13.4, respectively.
Compared to the other players in the big-five leagues, Messi’s big chances created (29) outdid Antoine Griezmann (24), Florian Kainz and Mitchell Weiser (17) and Rafael Leao (15), with Bruno Fernandes (32) eclipsing the 35-year-old’s creation of top-quality chances.
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Only Fernandes (16.7), Griezmann (13.9) and Kevin De Bruyne (13.7) outranked Messi (13.4) for Expected Assists in Europe’s major leagues.
This was an undoubted improvement from his first year in France (8.8 xA), which put him 16th in the big-five divisions.
Vis-à-vis other players in the major leagues for goal and shot-creating actions, Messi’s influence in both campaigns is even more evident.
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Only Luis Muriel and Dimitri Payet outdid Messi’s shot-creating actions per 90 in 2021-22 (7.09, 6.63 and 6.52, respectively), although the Argentine fell to 10th for volume of open-play passes leading to shot attempts.
The former Barcelona superstar was eclipsed by Kylian Mbappe alone for goal-creating actions per 90 (1.19-1.13), while Thomas Muller (26) and Mbappe (21) bettered Messi’s 19 open-play passes preceding goals last season.
In 2022-23, only De Bruyne and Remy Cabella (6.55 and 6.45) eclipsed Messi (6.25) for SCAs per 90, with only Fernandes (164) outdoing the World Cup winner’s 128 open-play involvements leading to shots.
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The Argentina international ranked second for goal-creating actions to De Bruyne (1.15-1.11), but he outdid the Belgian and everyone else in the big-five leagues for open-play passes preceding goals.
Verdict
While Messi may not have influenced PSG’s Champions League pursuit, he had his fingerprints all over the Parisians’ Ligue 1 campaign in both seasons.
He started slowly in France but turned the corner in January 2022 and never looked back. Undoubtedly far from a flop.
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08:09 - 09.06.2023
I was NEVER happy at PSG — Lionel Messi on transfer decision
Lionel Messi announced his decision to join Inter Miami in the MLS despite Barcelona’s attempt to bring him back and earlier attempts by PSG to renew his stay in Paris.
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17:24 - 08.06.2023
How personal interests influenced Messi to leave PSG for Inter Miami USA
Lionel Messi could have decided to join his last club in his illustrious playing career. For reasons best known to the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, he picked MLS side Inter Miami.
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