Messi: I haven't been good at PSG, next season I'll be better
Robin Bairner
- 30 May 2022 15:58 BST
- 3 min read
Lionel Messi admits that he has not been anywhere near the top of his game since leaving Barcelona for PSG last summer, but the Argentine has pledged to improve.
Messi had not expected to leave Camp Nou at the end of his contract, but his economic demands coupled with the club’s crippled financial situation meant that he had to go.
Things have not gone to plan in Ligue 1, however. He netted only 11 goals in all competitions for PSG during 2021/22, and though he delivered 14 assists on top of that figure, his numbers were well below what was expected from one of the greatest footballers in history.
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Messi has admitted that but has promised to do better next time around.
“Next season will be way better for me with Paris Saint-Germain, I’m sure. It was not easy after that crazy summer,” he told TyCSports.
“It was really difficult to understand what happened, I wasn’t expecting to leave Barcelona - it was a shock.
“In Barcelona I had everything. I left Argentina when I was very young. The truth is that I had no plans to change anything. Luckily the adaptation of the children was spectacular. For Antonela [his wife] and for me it was more difficult.”
Aguero backs Messi to improve
Messi is not the only one that is predicting a better second season at PSG; good friend Sergio Aguero, who had to retire from professional duty earlier this season because of a heart condition, believes the attacker will bounce back too.
“I’m sure great things will happen for him in 2022, which will be an important year,” he told Stake.com, referencing the World Cup. “Messi was always adapting to a different league. His performance was good. If we put apart the Champions League, they won the Ligue 1 title easily.
“The PSG squad is one of elite players and Messi is a winner. I’m sure that in his second season, he will be better still.”
At Barcelona, Messi was had topped 30 goals per season in his 13 previous campaigns, with his 11-goal haul in 2021/22 his poorest since the 2005/06 season.
