(AFP): Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel has said that Barcelona’s legend Lionel Messi would be welcome at the club but expects the forward to remain at Barcelona.
“He’s very welcome. What coach says no to Messi?” Tuchel told BT Sport. “I think Messi finishes his career in Barcelona. He is Mr Barcelona,” PSG boss added.
Messi has scored a record 634 goals for the club in 730 games and is also their most decorated player with 33 trophies. He is into the final year of his contract at the Nou Camp.
Spanish media reports have cast doubts about his future at Barcelona after a disappointing season that culminated in an 8-2 Champions League humiliation by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals this month.
Tuchel said that PSG will need a deeper squad to cope with the demands of the short turnaround to the new season. “We lost lots of players for this campaign and we lose now Thiago Silva and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting,” he added.
“We need to use the transfer window now to make the squad wider. We need to build a strong squad. We decided not to talk about transfers in this period. We’ll sit together in the next days,” he added.
Tuchel’s French champions lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in a tightly contested Champions League final on Sunday. The 2019-20 French Ligue 1 season was cancelled in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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