Lionel Andreas Messi’s successful, albeit emotional, move to Paris Saint-Germain is finally complete.
A total of 778 mesmerizing matches and 672 sizzling goals later spread over 17 glorious seasons, only a handful of the Blaugrana faithfuls were present to catch a final rear view of their idol’s hunched shoulders and slumped back as he was forced to walk away with a heavy heart from Camp Nou one last time on Sunday after having tearfully poured out his emotions at the decidedly inglorious, official press conference in Barcelona.
The farewell was in no way what anyone even totally bereft of creative imagination could have imagined – at least a grand, sumptuous affair in a jam-packed Barcelona stadium under those once-grand words that would immediately trigger shivers to course down a spine when the moment of epiphany dawns upon one – Mes Que Une Club.
No, au contraire, just a small confluence of befuddled journalists and other media reps in a conference room with the Camp Nou boardroom posse with representatives and family members from the Messi entourage, including the great man himself, of course.
Needless to say, the tears flowed as the dumbfounded Barcelona talisman and savior of Blaugrana football for seventeen incredible seasons stood at the lectern, speechless at first for a long while as the tears from a choked heart welled up and coursed down his cheeks. Suddenly, I could hear the ominous words reverberating from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – ‘… the horror … the horror …’ as the tears welled up in my own eyes.
Needless to say, with the torturous journey of why’s, what-if’s, how’s and who’s at the press conference having been painfully navigated – the entire ordeal all at Messi’s emotional and psychological expense, needless to say – the global feedback was almost instantaneous in this age of social media when the tsunami torrents struck with full force when the entire traumatic episode experienced a sudden neck-snapping, 360-degree turnaround with the whole scenario magically morphing into a new, grand and cinematographic landscape with a mesmerizing Parisian backdrop featuring the megalithic Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and, most unbelievably, the Parc des Princes.
Whilst most were empathetic towards the former Blaugrana talisman for his forced, deplorable exit by factors known and unknown, there was still an incomprehensible slew of cocktails laced with snide remarks wickedly served up by anti-Messi detractors who obviously had their heads shoved way too far up their posterior ends to be able to discern truth from lies after seeing their pre-designated ‘villain’ receiving unmitigated joy, justice, reward and fitting recompense with his new Paris Saint-Germain deal for the new era where only tears of overwhelming joy would flow.
Yet, it still infuriates me no end to recall those words emitting from purile, bitter hearts and vacant, empty souls:
‘Money dries eyes …’
‘Shedding crocodile tears, obviously …’
‘Just another snake who sold out …’
‘Those tears sure disappeared quick …’
‘How much of himself was he willing to sacrifice for Barcelona …?’
Lionel Messi’s new, proud club owners, meanwhile, being the visionaries that they deservedly are – unlike myopic Barcelona – are already looking way over yonder, with a distinct focus on an absolutely cracking 2022.