Former Super Eagles Captain, Austin Jay Jay Okocha claims he would have remained in France had he earned as much as new PSG player, Lionel Messi.
Messi joined the French juggernauts on a two-year deal from Barcelona on Tuesday and will pocket a staggering weekly wages of £1 million.
Reacting to the Argentine’s big pay check, Okocha said he came too early in his career at the club while Messi came at the right time.
“I came too early and Messi came at the right time,” Okocha joked told in a telephone with The Guardian. “If I was paid such amount of money in my playing days, maybe I would have stayed back in France forever. I wouldn’t have thought of coming to Nigeria,” he said.
Jay Jay Okocha’s magical display lured many Nigerian fans to French League in his playing days. In 1998, the Nigerian set a transfer record when he left Fenerbahce in Turkey to PSG in France on a fee of £12.4
Okocha, who is considered as one of the best Nigerian footballers and players to come out of African continent, featured for the Parisians for four years spanning 1998 to 2002, where he made 84 appearances with 12 goals.
Messi’s 21 years relationship with his former club, Barcelona came to a shocking end last week after the Spanish giants opted not to renew his contract which had expired in July first.
The 34-year-old played 778 games, scored 672 goals, won 35 trophies, including 10 La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and numerous personal records and honours with Barcelona since joining them as a kid in the year 2000.
The six-time Ballon d’Or now prepares himself for a new life in Paris, after ending a 17-year-stay at Camp Nou.
He claimed he feels betrayed by the club he has given so much to.
Barcelona had asked Messi to accept a 50 percent reduction in wages, which he accepted without even trying to negotiate it.
But the club later told him to leave, claiming that getting the Argentine to remain in Catalonia would ruin the club
