Credit: Twitter
Lionel Messi, the Argentine superstar who left Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on a free transfer, has unfollowed his former club on Instagram ahead of his official announcement as an Inter Miami player. The 36-year-old, who joined PSG from Barcelona last summer, had a disappointing campaign with the French giants, failing to win the Champions League and being booed by some of the fans.
Messi decided not to renew his contract with PSG and opted to join David Beckham's MLS franchise, Inter Miami declining a monetarily superior offer from Al-Hilal. The former Barcelona player could be unveiled as their marquee signing on Sunday, July 16 at a special event at the club's DRV PNK Stadium, with both Shakira and Bad Bunny rumored to perform.
However, before his official presentation, Messi made a subtle gesture on social media that shows his lack of affection for PSG. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has unfollowed PSG on Instagram, where he has 478 million followers.
Messi now only follows four football clubs on the platform: his beloved Barcelona, who he left in tears last year; Manchester City and Chelsea, who were both linked with him in the past; and Newell's Old Boys, his boyhood club in Argentina.
It is not surprising that Messi has no love for his former club since he was continuously unfairly blamed for the club’s failure in the Champions League. The seven-time Balon D’or winner was at one point booed by his own fans despite contributing with 67 goal contributions in his 75 matches for PSG including 13 goal contributions in 14 matches in the Champions League.
The four-time Champions League winner was also suspended by the club for an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia and Messi gracefully accepted the suspension but mentioned that there was no session scheduled earlier during the time of his trip.
Messi's move to Inter Miami is expected to boost the popularity and quality of MLS, and also immediately impacted Inter Miami’s social media, which became the most followed MLS side after announcing the player. Messi is likely to make his debut for Inter Miami against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup on August 10.
