18 July,2022 11:33 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Lionel Messi looks on at young participants during a soccer clinic at a stadium in Tokyo, as a part of the team’s pre-season summer tour of Japan. Pic/ AFP
In a video posted by French champions PSG, Lionel Messi was seen enjoying himself in a game of football with kids in Japan. The Argentinian was seen passing the ball around and providing an assist to one of the kids in the process. The jersey-donning tots were only too excited to be playing with an icon of the game.
Messi and PSG are in Japan for a pre-season tour following which the Ligue 1 season will kick off on August 6th. The tour not only presents the team with a chance to bolster their engagement with global fans but is also important to players like Messi who will be looking to shake off the pre-season rust in an effort to be at a hundred percent when the season commences.
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The upcoming season is shaping up to be a be a vital one for the Parisians. Having spent a huge amount of money to keep hold of Kylian Mbappe, and having loaded their team with star talent; the club owners and fans will be hoping that the team can deliver bring home the elusive UCL title.
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Leading PSG's charge for 2022/23 will be Christophe Galtier, their new manager. Despite achieving incredible success at Lille, it remains to be seen how Galtier will handle all the big egos in the PSG dressing room.
In terms of new arrivals, the latest one for PSG has been Hugo Ekitike. He is a talented 20 year-old striker who had a breakthrough season with fellow French side Reims last year. Although with all the high-calibre firepower that PSG possesses it will be interesting to find out if Ekitike can make it into the starting eleven.
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