Lionel Messi will soon be unveiled as a PSG player after agreeing to a contract with the Ligue 1 club, according to the half-brother of the Emir of Qatar.
Paris Saint-Germain quickly emerged in pole position to sign Messi, after Barcelona confirmed he would not be re-signing with them earlier this week.
The Argentine forward had agreed a new contract with the Spanish giants but they would have been unable to register the player with La Liga without breaching salary cap rules.
PSG were quick to capitalise as Messi’s situation came to light on Thursday as president Nasser Al-Khelaifi entered discussions and manager Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the player.
Talks between both parties progressed rapidly over the next 24 hours, and the Qatari royal who is the half-brother of PSG’s owner says an agreement was reached on Friday evening.
Khalid bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani wrote on his Twitter: “Negotiations are officially concluded. And announce later. #Messi #Paris_Saint_Germain.”
He also sent a message to Barcelona, who have lost their skipper and the player many regard as the greatest to ever play the game.
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“Barcelona will continue to be the great and great team through which the great football legends passed, Barcelona, which raised to a very high and extraordinary level of fun in football,” wrote Khalifa Al-Thani.
“The entity is stable and the rest are leaving. The first hexagon in history, football fans will remember forever, Barcelona is not just a football club, Barcelona is a country in football.”
Khalifa Al-Thani posted another tweet of an interview of Neymar, who is set to reunite with his good friend and former Barcelona teammate at Paris.
In another post, he shared a picture of Messi and former Real Madrid central defender Sergio Ramos embracing and wrote: “The capital of light. 8 Champions League.”
Ramos joined PSG on a free earlier this summer after his contract expired at the Santiago Bernabeu.
