Lionel Messi’s arrival at Paris Saint-Germain will guarantee the Ligue 1 side a Champions League triumph, according to Somalia national team manager Said Abdi Haibeh.
After leaving La Liga side Barcelona after 21 years, the 34-year-old joined the Parisians on a two-year deal with the option of a further 12 months having agreed to a €35m-per-year contract.
His move to Mauricio Pochettino’s squad will also see him reunite with compatriots Leandro Paredes, Mauro Icardi and Angel Di Maria as well as his Brazilian, former Barcelona teammate Neymar.
Weighing in on the six-time Ballon d’Or winner's move to the French top-flight outfit, the Ocean Stars’ leading figure claims that decision was a necessary solution for PSG to end their agelong failure to clinch the European club competition.
“PSG just showed that they mean business when they signed (Georginio) Wijnaldum, (Gianluigi) Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi and Sergio Ramos,” Haibeh told Goal.
“It shows they are serious about winning the Champions League. With the arrival of Messi, that is a guarantee.
“His move to PSG is a very good move considering the situation he’s currently in.
“Barcelona let him down big time, he wanted to stay with his beloved club, a club that he spent 21 years of his life, a club where he won 35 trophies and six Ballon d’Or crowns.”
During his time with the Catalans, where he made his professional debut in 2003 after joining the academy in 2000, he won La Liga 10 times, four Champions Leagues, seven Copa del Rey diadems among several other honours.
Also, he is Barca’s top scorer and top appearance maker of all time, with 672 goals from 778 matches.
Haibeh also highlights what the diminutive phenomenon will bring to Pochettino’s team.
“He will complete the missing part of the puzzle, goals, assists and players around him will have great confidence and will perform better,” he added.
“This move will see him join his friend Neymar as well as Kylian Mbappe. These three frontmen will be very difficult to stop.
“£25M a year plus £25M sign-on fees was an offer too good to refuse.”
PSG have won the French top-flight diadem on nine occasions, but they have failed to win the continent's top trophy.
The closest they came was in the 2019-20 season when Kingsley Coman fired Bayern Munich to a 1-0 final triumph over Thomas Tuchel's side inside Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz.