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Bienvenue. Lionel Messi and his family are in France! The Argentinian football player arrived with his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, and their three children, Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro, to start their new life in Paris.
Messi will now become Paris Saint-Germain’s new player following his departure from Barcelona, the club he represented during his first 17-years of professional career.
The family landed in the European city to witness excitement from the French fans. Messi was welcomed by hundreds of people who crowded the Paris-Le Bourget airport to see their idol.
The sports sensation seemed happy and kept his smile at all times while waving to his fans. Messi also treated the locals by wearing a t-shirt with the Parisian battle “Ici est Paris” (”Here is Paris”).
The former Barça player and his family left the El Prat Josep Tarradellas airport early morning surrounded by top security forces. The measure allowed them to have a quiet transition. According to Yahoo Sport, besides his wife and kids, Messi’s entourage included his father and manager Jorge Messi.
Antonela Roccuzzo took social media to share an image of them inside the airplane before departing. “With all (strength) towards a new adventure together, us five,” she captioned the photo.
On Sunday, Messi and his family attended the official farewell ceremony. During the event, Messi was deeply moved. In a news conference, he spoke about his decision to change teams. “There is no doubt that I will go to a team that will compete with Barca. I didn‘t want to leave, but I have to. And I want to keep winning. That’s my mentality. I want to win,” he said.
“I am really sad because I didn‘t want to leave because this is the club I love,” he said, as reported by ESPN. ”I didn’t expect this. I have never lied; I have always been honest and upfront. Last year I wanted to leave; this year, I didn’t. That’s why I am so sad.”
“As the president [Joan Laporta] has explained, the club has debt [problems]. It’s not possible. Why keep drawing it out if it’s nearly impossible? The talks stopped as Barca did not want to go on; they knew LaLiga would not let it happen; it was impossible. I did everything I could to stay, and it wasn‘t possible. I offered to reduce my salary by 50%, and Barca didn’t ask for anything else. They didn’t ask for another 30%; that’s a lie,” he revealed.