rahulNovember 7, 20265 Mins read0
Lionel Messi has never been particularly short of reminders of the clubs and teams that have shaped his career, but a recent photograph has given supporters something unexpected to examine. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was spotted arriving at Inter Miami’s training facilities carrying a personalised black bag decorated with several football crests. Barcelona, Newell’s Old Boys, Inter Miami and Argentina were all represented, but one club from his playing history was nowhere to be seen: Paris Saint-Germain.
The photograph, shared by Inter Miami, quickly attracted attention after supporters noticed the selection of badges on Messi’s personalised mate-drinking bag. The black accessory features the crests of Barcelona, Newell’s Old Boys, Inter Miami and the Argentina national team, representing different stages of a career that has taken him from Rosario to the highest levels of European and international football.The absence of PSG was particularly noticeable because Messi spent two seasons with the French club between 2021 and 2023. His time in Paris was a significant chapter in his career, even if it never developed into the kind of lasting attachment he had established with Barcelona.The photographs prompted discussion across social media, with some supporters interpreting the missing crest as a deliberate snub to the Parisian club. Messi, however, has not explained the selection or indicated whether the omission carries any particular meaning. There is consequently no confirmation that the missing badge was intended as a message to PSG, rather than simply a personal choice about which crests to include.The other four symbols have clear connections to his footballing journey. Newell’s Old Boys were the club where Messi developed as a young player in Argentina, Barcelona became the institution with which he is most closely associated, Argentina represents his international career, and Inter Miami is the club he joined after leaving European football in 2023.
Messi’s absence from the bag has attracted attention partly because his departure from Paris followed a difficult period in which his relationship with the club’s supporters and hierarchy deteriorated. He joined PSG in August 2021 after Barcelona’s financial crisis and La Liga’s salary regulations prevented the Catalan club from registering a contract extension, despite both Messi and Barcelona wanting to continue their partnership.His arrival alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappé generated enormous expectations, with PSG hoping the attacking trio would finally deliver the Champions League trophy. Messi produced impressive individual numbers, recording 32 goals and 34 assists in 75 appearances across his two seasons. He also helped the club secure two Ligue 1 titles and the 2022 Trophée des Champions. However, domestic success was not enough to satisfy supporters whose primary ambition remained European glory.
Paris: Lionel Messi, center, poses with his jersey with PSG president Nasser Al-Al-Khelaifi, left, and PSG sports director Leonardo during a press conference Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. Lionel Messi said he’s been enjoying his time in Paris “since the first minute” after he signed his Paris Saint-Germain contract on Tuesday night. The 34-year-old Argentina star signed a two-year deal with the option for a third season after leaving Barcelona. AP/PTI(
PSG’s consecutive Champions League round-of-16 exits proved particularly damaging. Messi and Neymar increasingly became scapegoats for the team’s European failures, with sections of the club’s ultras directing boos and whistles towards the two forwards. The atmosphere surrounding Messi became even more complicated following Argentina’s triumph over France in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar. Despite returning to Paris as a world champion, Messi experienced a noticeable shift in the reception from sections of the Parc des Princes crowd. He later acknowledged that the way he was treated changed considerably after the tournament, particularly following Argentina’s victory over the host nation.
His personal adjustment to life in Paris also proved difficult. Messi had not wanted to leave Barcelona and struggled to establish the same sense of belonging he had enjoyed in Spain. He openly discussed his difficulties adapting to his new surroundings, with the challenges extending into family life. He even mentioned how restrictions and complaints from neighbours, including concerns about his children playing football in the garden, made settling in more complicated.The relationship with PSG’s management reached its breaking point in May 2023. Following a defeat, Messi travelled to Saudi Arabia to fulfil an existing promotional commitment as a tourism ambassador. The club had reportedly changed its training schedule at short notice, meaning the trip resulted in him missing a scheduled session. PSG responded by imposing a two-week suspension, suspending his salary payments during that period and taking disciplinary action against the Argentine. Messi subsequently issued a public video apology, but the incident further damaged an already strained relationship and effectively ended hopes of a contract renewal.After his departure, Messi also expressed disappointment that PSG had not officially celebrated his 2022 World Cup triumph, particularly as he was the only member of Argentina’s victorious squad playing for the French club. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi later criticised the forward for speaking negatively about the club after leaving, demonstrating that tensions had continued beyond his departure.
Lionel Messi, left, and Neymar (Reuters Photo)
Messi eventually left when his contract expired in the summer of 2023, joining Inter Miami rather than continuing his European career. Neymar, who also departed PSG that summer, subsequently reflected on their final period in Paris as an unhappy experience, describing how the two friends had felt isolated and unappreciated despite their contributions. Their experiences helped explain why Messi’s apparent omission of PSG from his personalised bag has attracted attention, although he has not publicly suggested that leaving out the French club’s crest was a deliberate snub.
The four crests displayed on Messi’s bag trace a career that began long before his arrival in Paris. Born in Rosario, Argentina, he first played football for Abanderado Grandoli, a neighbourhood club where his father helped coach him. At six, he joined Newell’s Old Boys, developing in the youth side famously known as The Machine of ’87, where he established himself as one of the most promising young players in the region.His move to Barcelona came in 2000, when he was 13, after the Spanish club agreed to bring him into its academy, La Masia. He made his first-team debut in October 2004, aged 17, and went on to spend 17 senior seasons at the club. During that period, he became Barcelona’s record goalscorer, won multiple domestic and European honours and established himself as one of the defining players in the history of the game.His departure in 2021 was driven by Barcelona’s financial situation rather than a sporting decision to move elsewhere. After two seasons at PSG, Messi chose Inter Miami, joining the Major League Soccer club in July 2023 and beginning a new chapter in the United States.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello, file)
Argentina, meanwhile, remains central to his career. After years of international disappointment, Messi captained the national team to victory at the 2022 World Cup, completing the major achievement that had eluded him for much of his career.The bag’s selection of crests therefore brings together four distinct parts of Messi’s footballing life, from his childhood in Rosario to his present at Inter Miami. PSG, despite its two seasons and the trophies won there, is absent. Whether that was intentional remains unknown, but given how his time in Paris ended, the missing badge was always likely to attract attention.
Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident
