Lionel Messi’s fans went crazy when the former FC Barcelona forward made his first official appearance in Paris after signing a new contract with his new club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). If this isn’t influence, then what is?
When Messi joined PSG from Barcelona after 21 years he rejected Neymar’s offer to wear the number 10 jersey. Neymar ore number 10 at PSG and out of respect to the worlds greatest player, he felt that Messi should wear it while at PSG as well since Messi had worn the number in Barcelona since 2008. Instead, Messi opted to wear the number 30 jersey. When asked why he opted to wear number 30, he said he was arriving at a new team (PSG) to help and the number 10 jersey is Neymar’s jersey.
During a rare interview with Radio 94.7, Messi was asked to list the five best players in world excluding him, he listed Mbappe, Hazard, Suarez, Aguero and Neymar. However, he did not mention Cristiano Ronaldo as he said he excluded himself and Ronaldo. This is because they are the top two players in the world, in a league of their own. Therefore, there was no reason to mention Ronaldo.
He opted to cut his salary by 50% just to stay at Barcelona as a sign of gratitude to the club that picked him up and made him. After his decision to move to Paris, the clubs social media handles skyrocketed from 19 Million followers on Instagram to 40 Million in just a couple of days.
