It’s the transfer that has shocked football, and Lionel Messi’s move to Paris Saint-Germain has left Lille’s Jose Fonte seething.
The reigning French champions have had to sell players over the summer in order to stay with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play ruling, and Fonte doesn’t understand how the former Barca man can be added to a squad that already has the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Sergio Ramos and others on sky high wages.
“I just want to understand the Financial Fair Play in France,” he said on talkSPORT, cited by The Sun.
“Every single club is restricting their spending. They can’t buy a lot, they can’t get players on big wages but then PSG comes and it looks like there’s no law.
“Everyone had to tighten the budget at Lille, some players had to reduce their wages. Then you come to PSG and you see Donnarumma, Ramos, Wijnaldum signing.
“All these players are coming for big, big wages and they already have lots of players that have incredible wages.”
It’s a question that most people appear to be scratching their heads over.
The suggestions of impropriety are thinly-veiled but there nevertheless, but PSG president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, isn’t concerned.
“Regarding the financial aspect, I will make it clear — we know the rules of FFP and we will always follow the regulations,” he said at Messi’s press conference, cited by The Sun.
“Before we do anything, we check with commercial, financial and legal people. We have the capacity. If we sign Leo, it’s because we can, otherwise we would not have done it.
“What Leo brings to the club is huge, which you can see just outside (the stadium, where thousands of fans had gathered). He is a big asset.
“I hope Leo will not ask for a raise of salary, but what we have is fantastic.”
It’s going to be difficult for anyone to live with the Parisiens this season, and we could see some incredible scores being racked up if their opponents can’t live with them.