Former French player: 'Booing Messi is an insult to football'

"If I had to advise Messi, I would tell him to leave PSG immediately, because they are not a real team," Petit told RMC Sport on April 3. "PSG is like a retirement team, even for 20-year-old players. No one has improved when joining PSG. Messi is not at fault, and booing him is an insult to football."

Petit scored three goals in his journey to help France win the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. At club level, he played for Monaco, Arsenal, Barca and Chelsea.

Petit also thinks that comments criticizing Messi for "walking" on the field are unreasonable. "If we watch Messi for a long time, we will see him also walking at his peak at Barca. Messi is the conductor with the chopstick, and the surrounding players must also know how to move. Look at Argentina win the World Cup with warriors who are ready to shed blood or sacrifice for Messi," he added.

Petit understands how to play with creative players like Messi or Neymar, having played alongside Zinedine Zidane in the French national team. At that time, he thought that Zidane was also allowed to play freely. "Watching Messi play at Barca used to remind me of Zidane. I never said Zidane had to run to defend, but I would do that job for him to conduct the orchestra."

Messi was booed by the Parc des Princes audience, after PSG lost 0-1 to Lyon in Ligue 2 on April 2. This is not the first time the Argentine superstar has been in a similar situation, making his future in Paris even more complicated.

According to French newspaper L'Equipe, Messi can only stay at PSG if he accepts a 25% salary reduction. President Nasser Al Khelaifi does not want to violate Financial Fair Play, and has more money to recruit stars in the summer transfer window of 2023. Messi is receiving the third highest salary at PSG with $ 3.7 million per month, after Kylian Mbappe 6.5 million and Neymar 4 million.