PSG made the shocking decision to suspend Lionel Messi without pay for two weeks after he traveled to Saudi Arabia without permission. But, it appears the Argentine already made his mind up beforehand and will officially leave the club this summer after two years in the French Capital.

Via Fabrizio Romano:

“Messi will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season. There are no doubts about that anymore.
Behind the scenes, it’s now understood that Leo’s father Jorge communicated the decision to PSG already one month ago due to the project. It was the final breaking point.”

This isn't exactly surprising, but you'd have to imagine the suspension helped solidify Messi's decision to take his talents elsewhere in the coming months. While Messi has 15 goals and 15 assists this term for the Ligue 1 giants, they've been an utter nightmare in the Champions League since his arrival, despite having one of the most lethal attacks in the world with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar as well.

PSG bowed out in the Round of 16 earlier in the year and also lost at that stage in 2022, failing to conquer Europe. Lionel Messi meanwhile has been linked to numerous clubs, including Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia and even Barcelona, with a possible return to Spain not out of the cards just yet. Plus, Inter Miami is just praying he'll one day make the move to the MLS. We all know what that could do for the league.

For what it's worth, Messi went to Saudi Arabia to fulfill his duty as a tourism ambassador for the Kingdom but Paris was clearly livid he did so without informing them.

Also, PSG wanted Messi to take a pay cut if they agreed to a new deal. Needless to say, that shouldn't happen. We're talking about arguably the greatest ever.

It will be very interesting to see where the legend ends up next.