"They were insulting his family" - Emmanuel Petit urges Lionel Messi to leave after what PSG fans did to him

Former France international Emmanuel Petit has urged Lionel Messi to leave Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) this summer as he feels the Argentine is not respected at the club. He claims that the Ligue 1 side's fans have insulted him and his family and he should thus not remain at the Parc des Princes.

PSG fans have not been happy with Messi and Neymar this season and booed them on multiple occasions. They did it last season as well after the club were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League.

Petit believes it is an insult to the sport to boo Messi and he would have left the club straight away if he was in the Argentine's place. He told Legal SportsBooks:

"I'm sorry for all those people who have the courage to criticise Messi. But for me this guy is football. When he left Barcelona it was a big, big decision for him and his family. It took months for him to get set up in Paris, in the city and the club. But with everything that happened during the season with the fans and with the press and what happened at the end of last season when he was booed, along with Neymar, they were insulting his family. If I was Messi I would have left the club straight away. I'm not staying, thank you very much. No."

Messi has been linked with a move away from the club as he approaches the expiry of his current contract.

Lionel Messi accused of joining PSG for money by Jerome Rothen

Former PSG player Jerome Rothen has been highly critical of Lionel Messi often since the Argentine joined the club. He took shots once again at the forward and claimed that the former Barcelona star moved to Paris because of money.

He said on RMC Sports:

"I have no words. It's completely out of place. That's how much he doesn't give a damn about the world since he arrived. He didn't come for the right reasons, he only came for the financial conditions. In Barcelona, we know very well why he left. They could no longer pay him the way they paid him. There was such a huge deficit that they had to part with it."

Rothen does not want Lionel Messi's contract to be renewed and believes it is best for all parties if they parted ways in the summer.