Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe - FBL-WC-2022-MATCH64-ARG-FRA
Argentina's forward (#10) Lionel Messi (L) walks past France's forward (#10) Kylian Mbappe after he scored a goal from the penalty spot during the Qatar 2022 World Cup final football match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, north of Doha on December 18, 2022. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

Lionel Messi has advised his soon-to-be ex-Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe regarding endless transfer rumors about the French star.

"I'd prefer you go to Barça, but if you want to go to Madrid, do it. You deserve a real, winning project," Messi allegedly told Mbappe.

Mbappe is currently at odds with PSG management when he declined his option with the club for the 2024-25 season, making him a free agent in June 2024. The French star insists that he is happy with PSG and plans to stay for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

However, the club does not want to lose the 24-year-old for nothing next year, and they will be forced to sell him this summer if he doesn't activate his 2024-25 option.

Messi's recommendation for Mbappe might be a surprise, as Real Madrid is the biggest rival of his boyhood club Barcelona, with whom he spent his entire football career until 2021.

Messi and Mbappe: Two Biggest Stars

Messi and Mbappe may have been club teammates for the last two years in PSG, but the two faced off on the sport's biggest stage - the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final.

The match is one of the most-watched television events in history, with over 1.5 billion people tuning in to the game and over half of the world engaged with 5 billion people.

The match ended level at 3-3, with Messi scoring two of Argentina's goals, while Mbappe became the second player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final.

Argentina came out on top of France after the penalty shootout, and the final is regarded as one of the greatest matches in history.