PSG players were ordered to tell Messi about Paris while on international duty

Lionel Messi completed his free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday evening as he signed a two-year contract with the French giants with the option for a third.

Messi had been expected to remain at Barcelona despite being a free agent since his contract expired at the end of June but his new contract was blocked by La Liga due to the club's financial difficulties.

PSG pounced first and completed the deal in less than a week, despite many outsiders feeling a deal would be difficult to complete.

Former midfielder Javier Pastore never doubted that the deal would happen and has revealed that PSG's Argentine players have been selling Paris to Messi for years.

Speaking to RMC Sport, Pastore explained why he was confident PSG would complete the signing of Messi.

"I was very confident that he would end up at PSG. The club's ambition is always to keep growing and improving and to have the best players in the world," stated the Roma midfielder.

Messi's signing was officially announced on Tuesday night, before the 34-year-old playmaker was unveiled at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday morning.

"He has arrived. Now, at PSG, you have three of the five best players in the world there together. It'll be fantastic to watch them – for France, for Ligue 1 and for everyone."

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Messi joins Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the French capital to form one of the most impressive attacking trios of all-time.

He also links up with international team-mates Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes and Mauro Icardi and it is these international team-mates who have laid the foundations for the transfer, as Pastore reveals.

"When we were on Argentina duty, with Di Maria, president Nasser would always tell us to speak to him about how great Paris was, how it's a beautiful city and a good team. But for a laugh."

Pastore and Messi have played together for the Argentina national team on 21 occasions but Pastore has not been capped since 2017.

Despite this, he enjoyed playing alongside the six-time Ballon d'Or winner "He's really calm and very nice. I met him when he was young, at 23. He's changed a lot. Before, he wouldn't even speak in the dressing room.

"But with time he realised that he had an important role to play in the national team and had to talk to the other players. He gained confidence, he's more of a leader than before."

Messi arrives in Paris off the back of winning his first major trophy with Argentina after Di Maria bagged the winner against Brazil to claim the Copa America.

The duo will now look to combine for more trophies in Paris over the next two seasons, having also claimed Olympic gold together in 2008.

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