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When 150,000 Lionel Messi shirts went on sale on Paris St-Germain's website the day his signing was announced, they were gone within seven minutes.

PSG have been here before, when Neymar signed about four years earlier, but it's fair to say even they were surprised by the excitement that has greeted the arrival of Argentine superstar Messi.

 
For the man himself, though, this is a completely new experience. He joined Barcelona as a boy, aged 13. Now 34, he and his young family are adjusting to a new life in a city he had last visited in December 2019, when he called in to pick up his record sixth Ballon d'Or.

From the moment he landed in France in August, everyone at PSG has made a big effort to make him feel welcome. A group meeting was organised at Ander Herrera's home, where the player was holding a barbecue to celebrate his birthday, and Messi has felt backed in the dressing room from the day he arrived.

Even former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, with whom Messi locked horns on numerous occasions in Spain, was quick to welcome him, and before signing he had already discussed the possibility of signing with Angel di Maria, Neymar and Leandro Paredes.