When discussing why Lionel Messi struggled in his first season at Paris Saint-Germain, many point to the adaptation the 34-year-old had to go through. Messi abruptly left FC Barcelona last year and had to switch clubs and cities for the first time in his professional career.
In an interview with TyC Sports, the Argentine spoke in detail about the changes he dealt with over the past year and their role in his rollercoaster of a first season in the French capital.
Messi first discussed how difficult it was for him to go from PSG to Barcelona after being made official that the Spanish club had to part ways with him due to financial reasons.
“After a lifetime of being in the same place, because it’s not easy at my age because one thing is to make it younger, or prepared, or wanting. At that time, I didn’t want it, and I didn’t imagine it, and I didn’t, I thought, and the truth is that it was a difficult year,” Messi said.
“I had everything in Barcelona. I left when I was very young. What’s more: I lived more in Barcelona than in Argentina. And I was doing very well. The truth is that I had no plans to change anything.”
The Argentine then spoke about the difficult transition he and his wife had adjusting to life in Paris and how it was their children were able to adapt faster than them to their new home in the French capital.
“Luckily, the children’s adaptation was spectacular. We always had that fear that the children would have a hard time with the change. And it was the opposite. It was very easy; they adapted very quickly to school, to friends, day by day,” Messi said.
“For Antonela and me, it was more difficult. I remember that the first day we took them to school was terrible. We both left crying. Saying what we are doing here, what happened. We didn’t understand anything. But they really some phenomena all three.”
This summer, there are going to be no changes; Messi is hopeful that his second season with PSG will be significantly better than this past year.
