Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has accused Lionel Messi (36) of showing a lack of respect after he criticised his former club of not “recognising” his World Cup victory.
PSG celebrated Messi’s World Cup victory over France at the club’s training ground, but not at the Parc des Princes. Al-Khelaifi said that given that PSG are a French club, it wouldn’t have been “sensitive” to celebrate the World Cup victory in the stadium.
However, following his summer departure from PSG, Messi criticised that decision, stating that his achievement lacked the “recognition” that he deserved. “[I was] the only player of the entire Argentine national team that his club did not recognise“, added the Argentinian.
Messi’s time with Les Parisiens ended acrimoniously. The player was sanctioned after making an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia and missing training. He was therefore suspended before being reintegrated before the end of the season. The affair, however, tainted the relationship and as a result, attempts to renew Messi’s PSG contract were left by the wayside.
Speaking to RMC Sport programme Rothen s’enflamme, Al-Khelaifi has hit back at Messi’s criticism of the club. “He’s not a bad lad, but I don’t like that. I’ll say this, and it goes for everyone, not just him – you speak when you’re there, not when you’ve left,” began PSG’s president.
He added, “I have a lot of respect for him but if someone wants to speak about PSG after [they’ve left], that’s not good. That isn’t respectful.”
Al-Khelaifi did, however, say that Messi was “the best player in the world and the best player in history” but admitted that not everything was “easy” for the Argentinian whilst he was at the club, noting that the whole project wasn’t centred around him, as it was at Barcelona.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle