Lionel Messi's Exit Cost PSG More Than 1 Million Instagram Followers

By Rick Martin Jun 05 2023, 21:12 PM EDT

It is the end of an era as Lionel Messi is leaving Paris Saint-Germaine (PSG) for what may be a stint in Saudi Arabia. However, the Argentina ace is taking a lot of fans with him as the club had a massive drop in Instagram followers.

According to GiveMeSport, after Messi's final game with PSG, the club lost a whopping 600,000 Instagram followers, and the number of people unfollowing the Paris-based team keeps dropping.

Before Messi's final match, PSG's Instagram account had around 69.9 million followers. It is now standing at around 68.5 million, which means more than a million have unfollowed the team and left with the Argentina soccer legend.

Lionel Messi Booed During Final PSG Game but Pays Tribute to Neymar

Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe make up the "Big 3" of PSG. With Messi leaving Paris for good, the Argentine legend paid tribute to his teammate, whom he also played with at FC Barcelona.

As Messi went out on the field at the Parc des Princes in Paris against Clermont, the Parisian crowd was steadily raining him with boos. The boos continued when the projected French Ligue 1 champs were defeated by their opponents with a final score of 3-2 on Saturday night.

With Messi as one of their star forwards, The Daily Mail pointed out that PSG won back-to-back Ligue 1 titles. However, the Parisians still booed the Argentinian on his final day. Beating their team at the World Cup final in Qatar may have also contributed to the fans' hatred of him, despite helping the club win multiple titles.

While Messi's parting with PSG was a bit ugly, his parting with now-former teammate Neymar was not, as he paid tribute to the Brazilian on social media.

He called Neymar a "beautiful person" and thanked the Brazilian for everything. Neymar then responded to his fellow South American player with his own social media tribute. However, Messi did admit that "not everything had gone to plan" during his 2-year run with Paris Saint-Germaine.

"Brother... it didn't turn out as we thought but we tried everything. It was a pleasure to share two more years with you." Neymar wrote on social media with a photo of him and Messi. "Good luck in your new stage and be happy. I love you."

Where Will Lionel Messi Go Next?

Lionel Messi is now essentially a free agent, with speculations on where the Argentina captain will go next being talked about in soccer spheres around the world. Currently, there are two contenders: the Saudi Arabia side, Al-Hilal, and, of course, his old team, FC Barcelona.

According to The Mirror, Al-Hilal may have offered Messi double what Cristiano Ronaldo got with Al-Nassr, making this possibly the biggest sports contract in history. However, during a meeting with them last Monday, Messi also reportedly asked the club to delay his move until 2024, which surprised club officials.

Meanwhile, his old team is also trying to woo their former star player back, as FC Barcelona recently spoke with Jorge Messi, Lionel's father and manager. Jorge was reportedly in talks with Joan Laporta, with Barcelona boss Xavi saying that "there is no doubt" that the Argentina legend would come back to where it all began.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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