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The agreement with Paris St.-Germain, the French soccer powerhouse bankrolled by the state of Qatar, comes days after Messi bid a tearful farewell to F.C. Barcelona, the club where he had spent his entire career.

The deal also highlighted how Gulf riches have so altered modern soccer's economics that even some of the world's biggest, richest and best-supported teams are now no match for state-sponsored teams in the arms race to acquire the most elite players.