(AP) -- Barcelona's announcement that Lionel Messi would be leaving the club set Paris Saint-Germain scrambling to figure out if it could sign the most desired free agent in soccer history. Messi called PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino, who is also from Argentina, on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss private discussions. The person said PSG is assessing the potential revenue that could be generated by signing Messi while also paying him a huge salary and complying with soccer's financial regulations. Funded for a decade by Qatari sovereign wealth, PSG is one of the few clubs in the world that can afford the 34-year-old Messi's salary. He was set to make about 70 million euros ($82 million) per year under his new Barcelona contract, but it was never signed. Barcelona said Thursday that despite reaching an agreement with Messi on the new terms, the Spanish league intervened because the club would not be complying with salary cap regulations. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3lKhAJI Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake