Paris St Germain are confident signing Lionel Messi would be profitable in the long run and hope to complete a deal within a week, the PA news agency understands.
Barcelona announced on Thursday night that the Argentina superstar would be leaving the Nou Camp, with financial restrictions preventing them from offering him a new contract.
LaLiga has a salary cap, calculated based on a club’s financial health, which was reduced in November in the wake of the financial pressures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and Barca have been hit hard.
PSG were understood to initially be of the view that a deal could not be done when the announcement came, but sources close to the matter say a direct approach from Messi to PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino later on Thursday changed the dynamic.
The 59-year-old returned as Barca president in March having pledged to ensure the forward, who scored 672 goals in 778 appearances during a glittering 17-year career, stayed at the Nou Camp.
He said: “Is anyone guilty of this? I don’t want to go on about the inheritance and the awful decisions that were made in the past but we have had less than six months.
“The situation is even worse than we expected. We have gone from bad to worse.
“I said the negotiations were going well because I thought LaLiga would be more flexible with fair play and Messi behaved in an exceptional manner. That’s why I said things were going well.
“We couldn’t go on with this and we needed to make a decision.”
Laporta also revealed that Barcelona’s wage bill is now down from 110 per cent of their income to 95 per cent following Messi’s exit.
