Lionel Messi – Photo Credit: Flickr

Lionel Messi received a hero’s welcome after flying to France to join Paris Saint Germain (PSG) after his departure from Barcelona.

The agreement to sign the 34-year-old is a major coup for PSG, who will add one of the best soccer players of all time to a front line that includes Brazil’s Neymar and Kylian Mbappe of France.

Messi wore a T-shirt that read “This is Paris”. He smiled and waved at fans who came to greet him at the Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of the French capital. The fans were chanting “Messi, Messi, Messi” as they cheered and let off firecrackers.

Messi gave no details of the deal, which was reached days after Barcelona said it could not afford to keep the midfielder because of Spain’s La Liga’s fair play rules. However, his father told reporters at Barcelona’s airport that Messi had reached an agreement with PSG, which is owned by Qatar Sports Investment.

PSG did not comment on the reports but released a short video showing scenes of Paris, a plane landing and a close-up of someone putting pen to paper. In the background, upbeat music can be heard and the words “new diamond in Paris” and “mercato update” appeared.

The video that was shown on Twitter, did not portray Messi but depicts an image of six Ballons d’Or, which is an annual award given by the Eiffel Tower to the player known as the best in the world.

The arrival of Barcelona’s all-time record scorer with 682 goals will boost PSG’s ambitions to win the Champions League for the first time. The Argentine professional footballer won four Champions League titles at Barcelona, as well as 10 La Liga titles.