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When Barcelona revealed Thursday afternoon that Lionel Messi would be leaving the club, Paris Saint-Germain didn’t flinch at first.
PSG admired Messi, of course, and he’s been a long-term dream for their Qatari ownership since purchasing an initial 70% stake in the French club in 2011. Indeed, since the outright purchase of the PSG the following year, contacts were relatively frequent. between the president of the club Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Jorge Messi, the father and agent of the Argentine player.
Al-Khelaifi made a concerted attempt to sign Messi last summer, when he was dangerously close to moving away from Barcelona.
A year later, PSG now think they have their man as Messi is due to address the media on Sunday noon in Barcelona and bid his public farewell to the Catalan club.
Even late Saturday night, PSG sources insisted the deal was yet to be signed, but everyone involved in the move was confident it was moving forward.
So, as PSG move closer to signing the footballer many consider the best to ever play the game, The Athletic has spoken to numerous sources as part of the deal. Here we describe the chain of events that led Messi to part ways with Barcelona after more than two decades in Catalonia.
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