Jerome Rothen claims Lionel Messi's numbers at PSG would be way better if he respected the Ligue 1 club a little bit more
Former PSG forward Jerome Rothen has claimed that Lionel Messi would have more goals and assists in Ligue 1 if he cared about the club. He believes that the Argentine was never interested in doing well on the pitch and was not invested.
Messi has scored 31 goals and provided 35 assists in his 73 matches for PSG. He joined in 2021 on a free transfer and is close to leaving the club this summer when his contract expires.
Speaking on RMC Sport, Rothen claimed that Messi has not respected the club and should have done a lot more on the pitch. He added that the target for the Argentine should be the top players who dawned the PSG shirt and said:
"It's paradoxical to put that forward and to be so disappointed with his consistency. By being much more invested and more combative, if he had respected the club a little more, he would be at 30 goals and 35 assists."
"This title of best passer will not hide his too average record. Then we talk about Messi. When you have won seven Ballons d'Or, a World Cup and as many titles, I think beating Angel Di Maria or Jérôme Rothen doesn't matter."
Amid the rumors of Lionel Messi leaving PSG, Barcelona are leading the race to get the Argentine's signature in the summer.
Rothen claims Lionel Messi joined PSG from Barcelona for money
Jerome Rothen has claimed that Lionel Messi only joined PSG for money. He believes that the Argentine knew he was not going to get paid by the Catalan club and jumped on the chance to get a good payday.
Rothen told on RMC Sport:
"I have no words. It's completely out of place. That's how much he doesn't give a damn about the world since he arrived. He didn't come for the right reasons, he only came for the financial conditions. In Barcelona, we know very well why he left. They could no longer pay him the way they paid him. There was such a huge deficit that they had to part with it."
Lionel Messi was in talks with PSG over a deal but stalled the negotiations. L'Equipe claimed that the talks were called off after the Ligue 1 side wanted the Argentine to take a wage cut to help with the club's FFP issues.