Argentina forward Lionel Messi, who left Barcelona last week, has signed a two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain.

The deal comes with an option of an additional year, the French club announced on Tuesday.

Messi, 34, will wear the number 30 as revealed in a video by the club, the number he had when he began his professional career at Barcelona between 2004-2006.

“I am excited to begin a new chapter of my career at Paris Saint-Germain,” said Messi in a statement on the club’s website.

The 34-year-old, who was a free agent after his shock departure from boyhood club Barcelona last week, landed at Le Bourget airport to the north of Paris on Tuesday afternoon.

There he was greeted by hundreds of PSG supporters who had gathered hoping to catch a glimpse of their new signing.

Those fans also gathered outside the club’s Parc des Princes stadium and outside a plush hotel in the city where Messi along with wife Antonella and their three children are expected to be staying.

Messi waved to crowds while sporting a Paris t-shirt on his arrival at the airport before being taken for a medical at a hospital just outside the city, the final step before his signing could be made official by the Qatar-backed club.

Messi’s father Jorge, who is also his agent, earlier confirmed the inevitable as he arrived at Barcelona’s El Prat airport to board a flight to France.

Asked by reporters if his son would sign for the French club, he replied: “Yes”.

Messi is expected to sign an initial two-year deal, and the completion of his move will close a whirlwind few days following the announcement last Thursday that he would leave Barcelona, the club he has represented for the entirety of his 17-year professional career.

PSG’s move for Messi had been an open secret for days, although reports in Spain on Monday night talked of a “final offer” by Barcelona to try to keep the player.

Instead, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner will join a PSG attack already featuring Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.