“Who else was going to pay him?” – Ludovic Giuly believes Lionel Messi had no choice but join PSG last summer

Speaking on RMC Sport’s Rothen s’enflamme, former France winger Ludovic Giuly blamed the lack of options behind Lionel Messi's move from Barcelona last summer.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner left his boyhood club after 17 years to join Paris Saint-Germain at the start of the season. The Argentine was originally expected to renew his contract and stay at his boyhood club. However, Barcelona’s financial crisis meant that the club could not fit his wages under the La Liga salary cap.

Barcelona’s inability to offer him a timely renewal meant that Messi did not have a lot of time to find a new team. Manchester City had already spent big money on Jack Grealish (£100 million).

This is something Guily claimed forced the Argentine's move to PSG. He said:

“Who else was going to pay him?. City had taken Grealish. If it happens a month before, Guardiola welcomes him with the red carpet. But there, who can pay it? Only Paris could pay it! When Leo goes on vacation, he knows there’s a problem. You think Nasser didn’t call him?!”

He added:

“Of course, he called; of course, they had started agreement in advance. Leo thought that Barca would offer to lower his salary by 50-percent, but they didn’t even offer him that! He knows Neymar, Paredes, Di Maria… Where do you think he’s going? Don’t you think they called him guys? They called him and said, ‘we welcome you!”

PSG fans slowly seeing the best of Lionel Messi with assists-galore

Lionel Messi’s goalscoring has taken a huge hit ever since he joined PSG. The lack of freedom and the need to settle down were obvious reasons.

The dominance of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar at the club has also arguably played a role. The former has been the club's leading scorer, with 24 goals and 17 assists in 34 appearances across all competitions this season.

This was always expected to impact Messi’s goals. However, the Argentine has been in fluid form of late and has produced a total of three goals and 10 assists in his last 13 appearances. He might have to further improve his attacking numbers in the coming time if he has to compete for individual titles next year.

However, his uptick in form comes at just the right time for the French giants. PSG play Real Madrid in the second leg of the R16 in the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu next week. They have a one goal advantage from the first leg courtesy of a late goal by Mbappe.

The Frenchman's consistent improvement and dominance this season means that Messi is not even the favorite to win individual awards from his own team.

However, the 34-year old’s impact on the game is still unparalleled. Many PSG fans will know that the Argentine might still prove to be their most important player this campaign.