Jerome Rothen has claimed that Lionel Messi shouldn’t be given a new contract at Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi’s current deal is set to expire this summer, and the French club are eager to extend the 35-year-old’s stay.
However, former PSG player Rothen described the club’s willingness to keep Messi as ‘a joke’ and added that keeping him would cause further problems with regards to Financial Fair Play.
Messi reportedly earns £52million a year at PSG.
Speaking to RMC Sport, Rothen said: ‘Messi’s renewal is a joke.
Jerome Rothen has claimed that Paris Saint-Germain shouldn’t give Lionel Messi a new deal
‘Managing Messi, Neymar and Mbappe is complicated. On top of that, his salary is very high.
‘I see PSG trapped in financial fair play because what they have to pay in wages has exploded.
‘Now they will have the opportunity to recover a huge sum with Messi’s salary, this could allow them to hire and improve the squad.
‘For all that, it’s a bad idea to renew with Messi.’
Rothen feels that Messi’s salary is too high and added that he doesn’t thank the club’s fans
Rothen also criticised Messi for not ‘investing in the project’ and for refusing to ‘put the club ahead of him.’
Rothen continued: ‘In terms of image and what it reflects, I can’t understand why Messi wants to extend the adventure here.
‘He makes no effort to put the club ahead of him. He never thanks the fans, he lowers his head and goes to the dressing room.
‘Even when he celebrates goals and his name is chanted, he never has a gesture for the fans to thank them for their support.
According to Rothen, PSG shouldn’t keep Messi as he ‘doesn’t want to invest in the project’
‘He doesn’t want to invest in the project.
‘Because of that, I don’t think it’s a good idea for it to continue.’
During his time at PSG Messi has made 58 appearances, while he has scored 26 goals and has provided 29 assists.
Messi won the Ligue 1 title last season and PSG are on track to be crowned champions again this campaign as they are top of the table, eight points ahead of their closest challengers Marseille.
It was reported last month that Messi is the subject of interest from several Saudi Arabian clubs, where Cristiano Ronaldo is playing for Al-Nassr.
Source: dailymail
