'He's Mr Barcelona' - but Lionel Messi would be 'welcome' at PSG, says Thomas Tuchel

Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel says Lionel Messi would be welcome at the club if he ever decided to leave Barcelona - but he does not expect the Argentine forward to do so.

Messi, who joined Barcelona aged 13, has scored a record 634 goals for the club in 730 games and is also their most decorated player with 33 trophies but the 33-year-old is into the final year of his contract at the club.

Reports in the Spanish media have cast doubts about his future at the club after a disappointing season that culminated in an 8-2 Champions League humiliation by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals this month.

"He's very welcome. What coach says no to Messi?" Tuchel told BT Sport after his side lost 1-0 to Bayern in the Champions League final on Sunday.

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"I think Messi finishes his career in Barcelona. He's Mr Barcelona."

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Tuchel said the club would talk over their potential signing targets and that they needed a deeper squad to cope with the demands of the new season.

"We lost lots of players for this campaign and we lose now Thiago Silva and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting," he added.

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"We need to use the transfer window now to make the squad wider. The campaign will be very demanding without any breaks.

"We need to build a strong squad. We decided not to talk about transfers in this period. We'll sit together in the next days."

The 2019-20 French Ligue 1 season was cancelled in March amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the new campaign kicked off over the weekend.

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