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The thought of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is a dream for many and Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly considering making that come true.

PSG completed the signing of Messi this week following his shock exit from Barcelona.

It means the Argentine superstar will form a deadly trio with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – though the latter could leave the club next summer if he decides not to renew his contract.

Diario AS are now reporting that PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi is interested in signing Juventus star Ronaldo, should Mbappe decide to leave for Real Madrid.

It’s said that Al-Khelaifi is not open to selling Mbappe this summer despite believing that the French striker will not sign a new deal to take his stay at the Parc des Princes past this season.

While leaving Mbappe on a free would be a blow, Ronaldo will also be available for nothing next summer if he doesn’t sign a new deal at Juventus.

It would create an exciting prospect of a front three that also includes Neymar and which made up the top three spots for the Ballon D’or award in both 2015 and 2017.

Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes is said to be ‘aware of everything’ and that he would have extra motivation for the move.

Should Ronaldo join PSG next summer and sign a two-year deal with the club, it would take him to the age of 39 which is when he is reportedly considering taking a step aside or leaving for less demanding football in the United States or Qatar.

Messi and Ronaldo dominating the footballing landscape for over a decade as the greatest players on the planet.

The pair traded both club and personal honours with the pair winning 11 Ballon D’or awards between them.

Their competitive rivalry has taken a step back somewhat since Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus back in 2018.

Mbappe meanwhile has shown little desire to sign a new contract in the French capital and is heavily expected to join Ronaldo’s former club as a free agent next summer.

Speaking at Messi’s first press conference at the club, Al-Khelaifi touched on Mbappe’s situation.

He said: ‘Everyone knows the future of Mbappe. He is a PSG player.

‘Kylian is very competitive, he wants to win, he has publicly said that he does not want to leave the team and there are no doubts or excuses of any other kind. Mbappe stays.’

Barcelona are still struggling to register new signings just 48 hours ahead of the start of their LaLiga season.

The Catalan giants are in financial disarray and must sell players and reduce their wage bill before new boys Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia can be included in Ronald Koeman’s squad.

Sportsmail looks at the ramifications, not to mention the embarrassment, of another sorry chapter in their catastrophic summer.

What normally happens?

Clubs sign players and they have to register them before the transfer window shuts on the last day of August. Only free agents can be signed after that date.

Why can’t Barcelona do that with Eric Garcia, Sergio Aguero, Emerson and Memphis Depay?

LaLiga has told teams who find themselves over their salary limit that they have to apply a 1/4 ratio to summer business.

If they sign someone who costs €10million (£8.4m) – and that includes salary – then they must offload someone for €40m (£34m) – again including salary.

Barcelona have completely failed to get anyone off the wage bill so it’s difficult for them to register their new recruits.

What about Messi!?

Messi had already left the club. He was off the wage bill on the last day of June. He would have counted as a new signing had he stayed.

They have got rid of Matheus Fernandes, whose contract was paid off. But the midfielder, who played just 17 minutes for the first team after being signed for €7m (£6m) in 2020, actually counts as a cost – albeit it one they can defer – because he had a deal until 2025.

So they can’t register anyone until someone leaves?

In a nutshell. Although Emerson actually counts as a returning loanee after his two seasons out at Betis so it’s just Memphis, Aguero and Eric Garcia.

Will they have to send them back?

Back where? They were free transfers out of contract. The club is fairly certain that by the August deadline all three will be signed up. The only doubt maybe is with Aguero.

Memphis is the priority and the club believe they can get Miralem Pjanic out on loan to allow them to bring him in. Garcia would probably not have played anyway because he was at the Euros and the Olympics but by the time he is ready he will be registered.

Barca are also still trying to place Samuel Umtiti. Martin Braithwaite is another they could sell because he has a market in the Premier League but he makes a small dent in the wage bill and Ronald Koeman believes he will be useful.

And Aguero?

Well he’s out for ten weeks anyway. And because he’s a free agent then he could join after the August deadline. But let’s see if that still suits both parties.

There was a meeting between Aguero’s agents and the club on the Friday after it became clear Messi was not staying. He was brought in principally because of his chemistry on and off the field with his international team-mate.

Barcelona could still do with his goals but if there are going to be injury problems and with his salary – even though he took a huge pay cut to come – then maybe the club will not stand in the player’s way if he wants out.

And obviously Barcelona can’t sign anyone else?

Let’s see what swaps can still be cooked up. Antoine Griezmann to Atletico and Saul Niguez to Barcelona was agreed by both players only for the clubs to then fall out with regards who paid Griezmann’s wages.

Griezmann now looks like staying for sure but others could move out in deals that bring new faces.

And as Joan Laporta said after waving Messi off: ‘The wage bill is still 95 per cent of projected revenue’. LaLiga says it should be 70 per cent.

Is there no other way without sales or salary cuts?

An injection of new money would change everything but they have so far rejected LaLiga’s deal with the US investment fund CVC worth €2.7billion (£2.2bn).

The money would be distributed between the clubs in Spain’s top two divisions with Barcelona receiving around €280m (£237m) – €42m (£35m) of which they would have to spend on debt restructuring, €199m (£168m) on the redevelopment of the Camp Nou and €42m (£35m) on players.

The €42m (£35m) would allow them to register players and even sign but because CVC would get 10 per cent of television money from Spanish football for the next 50 years they don’t want to ratify it.

SOURCE: ALLFOOTBALL