World Cup champion Lionel Messi will resume his duties at Paris Saint-Germain the next week, according to his club’s coach Christophe Galtier on Tuesday.
Messi, 35, was the cornerstone of the Argentina team that won the World Cup in Qatar nine days ago. He scored twice against France in the championship match, which ended in a triumph on penalties.
After their third World Cup victory, he and his teammates went back to Argentina to celebrate.
“Leo had a very big World Cup with his victory,” said Galtier on the eve of PSG’s meeting with Strasbourg as Ligue 1 kicks off again on Wednesday after the World Cup break.
“He had to return to Argentina for the celebrations and we decided that he was going to be off until January 1.
“He will come and join us either on the second or third (January) to pick up the season with us.
“He will have had between 13 and 14 days of recovery.”
Messi might make his return at home against Angers on January 11 after missing two Ligue 1 games and the French Cup game at Chateauroux.
His current contract in the French capital expires in the summer, therefore he is also likely to sit down with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and other key club executives to negotiate a one-season extension.
Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, two more PSG World Cup stars, “will be available for the encounter tomorrow (Wednesday),” according to Galtier.
Mbappe, despite earning a hat-trick in the World Cup final, could even start after returning to practice just three days earlier.
“We made sure to manage on a case-by-case basis,” said Galtier. “After talking with him, Kylian wanted to join us fairly quickly.”
