Lionel Messi has admitted he moved to Inter Miami this summer in search of the happiness which had deserted him ever since he left Barcelona.
After financial restrictions left Barcelona unable to offer him a new contract in the summer of 2021, Messi took his talents to France with Paris Saint-Germain, where he racked up 32 goals and 35 assists in 75 games.
Despite winning two Ligue 1 titles with the club, in the end, Messi declined to trigger the extension in his contract and became a free agent this summer.
Now Lionel Messi is coming off winning Leagues Cup 2023 and now eyes another trophy with the South Florida club. Nonetheless, the 36-year-old was again asked by Apple TV about his time in Paris and didn’t hide how he felt.
“It was a family decision, trying to look out for what’s best for the family,” he said. “We’d had a difficult two years, we hadn’t been well, it cost us.
“[The Miami move] was to go back a little to what we were when we were in Barcelona, enjoying the day-to-day, being well as a family, enjoying football every day, which was not happening for me.
“We decided this was going to be that place for many reasons and today, after a while, we know we were not wrong.”
The Messi era at PSG was clearly a business decision that each party benefited from. The capital club profited from having the former FC Barcelona star through different sponsorships, kit sales, etc. which was crucial coming out of the coronavirus pandemic.
As for Messi, PSG allowed him to stay in Europe and prepare for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The move to be in the French capital benefitted the player as Messi won the tournament in Qatar last November.