The manager wants the Argentine to join Ligue 1, and he's perhaps a little too eager
Brest boss Michel De Zakarian has said Lionel Messi "gives me a hard-on" amid reports the Argentine is headed to Paris Saint-Germain.
The manager claimed Ligue 1 getting a player like Messi would elevate the stature of the competition, lifting everyone else up in the process.
Messi will leave Barcelona in the coming weeks after the Catalan club could not finance a contract extension due to mounting debt.
What has been said?
"We say that we have a sh*t league, but if we manage to bring in a player like that it would be exceptional," Zakarian told RMC Sport.
"I'm not going to be polite here, but he gives me a hard-on."
PSG's Messi pursuit
The French side has long been after Messi, and made its interest abundantly clear last season with players such as Angel Di Maria openly requesting Messi to join them.
But when Barcelona agreed to terms with the star attacker last month in a deal that has since fallen apart amid La Liga financial restrictions, it appeared PSG would miss out on their man.
Now, they appear in pole position to reunite Messi with Neymar to create a super-powered front line.
Who else is in the Messi chase?
Pep Guardiola insisted this week that Messi is no longer a target of Manchester City, who have been linked with him in the past.
"We spent £40m on Jack Grealish. We paid £100m and brought in £60m," he said.
"He will wear the No.10 because we were convinced with Grealish and we were convinced Leo would continue at Barcelona, so right now he is not in our thoughts."
There are few other teams that can afford Messi's wages, and that list has likely narrowed by signings earlier in the summer. Manchester United have already signed Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, while Chelsea are on the brink of signing Romelu Lukaku.