Emmanuel Petit says booing of Lionel Messi is “insult to football”

In his guest appearance on Jérôme Rothen’s show on RMC, former French international defensive midfielder Emmanuel Petit notably reacted to Paris Saint-Germain fans’ booing of Lionel Messi in the build-up to the Ligue 1 leaders’ defeat to Lyon at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.

The Argentine was booed – but mostly cheered – as his name was called out among the starting eleven, a reaction which was also seen at several games last year, after the club crashed out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage, as well as in the past few weeks.

The forward, who is out of contract this summer, has notably been criticised over an apparent lack of effort shown in recent games. Petit, though, notably argues that it should be up to the other PSG players to make sure Messi is put in the best possible conditions to perform. 

“When I hear that, for me, it’s an insult to football.”

He adds that he would advise Messi to leave the club this summer – the former Barcelona man has been linked with a return to Catalonia, on top of interest from Inter Miami. Petit then takes aim at PSG:

“It’s not a football club. It’s a pre-retirement club, even for 20-year-old players. Nobody has improved while at PSG, is that Messi’s fault? He’s the magician with a wand, it’s up to the players around him to make an effort. […] Only the PSG fans don’t get that you need a squad built around Messi, which they don’t have, and won’t ever have, because [the management] are terrible in the market.”

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin