Argentine football legend, Lionel Messi, has revealed what went wrong between him and fans of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
Recall that Messi was heckled by some PSG fans after returning from a two-week suspension he was handed for an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to RMC, the Argentine footballer noted that there was a section of fans he could not get on board with him. He also acknowledged that both French footballer, Kylian Mbappe, and Brazilian star, Neymar, have received similar treatment in the past, with the latter targeted by a protest in the 2022/23 season.
Messi said:
"I came to Paris because I liked the club, because I had friends and a lot of people I knew in the dressing room, teammates from the national team or some I had been with before.
"It seemed to me that, beyond what the club was, I was going to have a much easier adaptation than in other teams I could have gone to, so that's a little bit why I decided to go to the club.
"The truth is that it was a very difficult adaptation, much more than I expected. Apart from the fact that I had people I knew in the dressing room and I had relations with them, it was complicated to adapt to a new change. I arrived late, I didn't have a pre-season. I had to adapt to a new city, which was difficult for my family and for me.... It was complicated.
"At first, it was great, I received a lot of encouragement as I've often said, but then people started to treat me differently, some of the Paris fans. The majority, on the other hand, treated me as well as they did at the start. Then there was a rift with a large section of the Paris crowd.
"Afterwards, people started to treat me differently. Part of the PSG crowd, the rest and the majority still treated me as they did at the beginning, but there was a break with the PSG fans.
"It wasn't my intention, far from it, to generate that break. It also happened with Neymar or Mbappe before.
"I'll keep [the memories of] all the people who respected me as I've always respected everyone since I arrived."
Messi was able to win two Ligue 1 titles to bring his total career honors haul to a staggering 34 major trophies, but a parting of ways did appear inevitable towards the end of 2022-23. Messi then subsequently announced that he would be joining MLS franchise Inter Miami at the end of his contract at PSG.
Although the former Barcelona legend struggled to match the form of previous seasons in his first campaign at PSG, his second season was more of a success with the diminutive forward scoring 21 times in 41 appearances in all competitions.