PARIS: Lionel Messi will return to Paris St Germain at the beginning of January, the Ligue 1 club’s manager Christophe Galtier said on Tuesday.

The Argentine forward, scored two goals to lead his country to victory over Fra­nce on penalties in the World Cup final nine days ago.

The 35-year-old Messi will miss PSG’s home league game against Strasbourg on Wednesday and the trip to Lens on Sunday.

“He (Messi) had to return to Argentina for the celebrations, and we decided he was going to be off until Jan 1,” Galtier told reporters. “So he will come and join us, eit­her on the 2nd or the 3rd, to be able to resume competition, when he will have had betw­een 13-14 days of recovery.”

Galtier said all other players returned as per the schedule and will be available for Wednesday’s game, including France striker Kylian Mbappe.

Galtier played down suggestions of a rift between Messi and team-mate Mba­p­pe after the World Cup.

“There is no reason to mix everything up in the relationship between Kylian and Leo. Kylian has a very good attitude having lost the World Cup.”

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2022