'Ugly and incomprehensible' Messi told to be more like Beckham

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 11 Jun 2023 08:21 BST
• 4 min read

Lionel Messi has been told to become more like future employer David Beckham after leaving PSG for Inter Miami.

Although no deal has been made official, Messi has confirmed that he will be moving to Beckham’s MLS franchise imminently, bringing to an end a two-year spell in Paris that was, by his own confession, a difficult one.

MORE: How Inter Miami will line up with Messi and friends

Meanwhile, the attitude of Messi at PSG has been criticised in France, with the 35-year-old World Cup winner having been accused of aloof behaviour.

The manner of his exit has left a particularly sour taste in the mouths of the French club, with the feeling that he should have shown his employers more respect – just as Beckham did when he departed after a six-month spell at the Ligue 1 club in 2013.

MORE: How much Lionel Messi will earn at Inter Miami

Among those to fire shots at Messi has been 1998 World Cup winner Christophe Dugarry.

“What he said was ugly and incomprehensible,” Dugarry said. “You have the right to not enjoy two years, but when you listen to his arguments... He says he couldn’t pick his kids up from school – it’s a bit weak.

“I'm tired of these players who only talk about themselves. They have everything provided to be happy. Everything is done to ensure that they are in the best condition.

“He leaves explaining that he was not happy. But put yourself in the place of your teammates, your coach, your supporters! It's ridiculous. I don't understand, he doesn't have advisers? How can you say such nonsense? You can feel it, why not, it can happen, but you have to give reasons…

“It's really not classy but I'm only half surprised. Ibrahimovic had done the same thing and it will be the same with Neymar. Beckham, he left with elegance.”

What did Messi say about PSG?

Messi admitted that he was not happy off the field at PSG.

In his interview with Mundo Deportivo, he said: “I have mixed feelings. The first year was very difficult, as I said before, for several reasons. The second season, I felt very good for the first six months, very comfortable at the club, in the city, with my family.

“In the middle there was the World Cup, and it affected all the teams a little, it split the season. I think that conditioned the second half. I was hoping to finish in another way, but hey, it was two years that were difficult for me, but they are behind me now.

"These two years I was not happy, I was not enjoying it, and it affected my personal life, I was missing a lot of things with my children

“I was able to spend less time with my children here than in Barcelona, I had less time in common with them. My decision to leave is also due to that, to find myself with my family and enjoy my children.”