Now we have had confirmation from the man himself after a comprehensive victory for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid (3-0) in which it can be argued that the front three finally clicked. Regardless of the confirmation the media are going bat crap crazy buying into a belief that Lionel Messi may be on the verge of leaving Barcelona for a super-sized fee too either Chelsea or Manchester City. Now even after Lionel Messi confirmed he will not join either club, the rumours still persist. Jose Mourinho even via a televised interview stated that “every club would be interested in signing Lionel Messi, however the finances behind any potential move would be implausible.”
There you have it media for yourselves….any potential move would be implausible due to the financial costs of such a move. Rob Wilson of Sheffield Hallam University investigated the financial implications of a move for Lionel Messi would have on clubs across the world; and it was found to be that only Real Madrid and Manchester United could make such a move for the four-time Ballon D’or Winner. Real Madrid are without a shadow of doubt the biggest rivals to Barcelona so that can be considered case closed and Manchester United have more pressing issues in the form of defence. Even though both teams could afford the sum in question; the salary costs for the star player would definitely put them in trouble with the FFP (Financial Fair Play) with his contract easily reaching at least 20 million euros per calendar year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30727554
Breaking down the transfer fee into structured payments over an agreed amount of time would definitely make it easier for other teams, such as PSG, Manchester City and Chelsea to get involved however if you go back to when Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United for Real Madrid it was demanded that the £80 million fee was upfront. Barcelona are in no position in which they need to sell and the player has stated that he wants to stay at the club so for the strength of me I can not understand why these rumours are still alive…..until it clicked!
If you’re a fan of the computer games such as football manager, you can dictate the realms of reality and make the impossible…possible. You can use an editor tool to make for example Watford Football Club (you’re welcome Gary) have a positive sum of up to £2 billion and the financial ability to attain any football player desired to them. Using this football game you can see the breaking headlines of Watford have acquired Lionel Messi for a fee of £200 million!!! Football Manager and to a degree even the Playstation/Xbox series FIFA can let you lose a sense of reality and make the unthinkable happen. For me, the media are using tactics similar to the editor tool in football manager to try and force it through because they want to use an editor tool to see something unimaginable actually happen.
Until the player publicly comes out and states that he wants to leave Barcelona then the case should be considered closed. The media just cannot let it rest even going to the point of twisting Lionel Messi’s words at a press conference designed to believe us into thinking he may leave the Catalan club at the end of the season. Messi stated “I am not sure If I will go back to Newells Old Boys one day. I am not sure where I will be next year. I have always said I will end my career at Barcelona but as Cristiano said, only God knows the future. Things in football can change in football overnight.”
Basically there, Lionel Messi is using the old I don’t know what tomorrow will bring which is fair enough as you don’t know what will happen. He does not know if he will wake up in the morning and for all you know Barcelona may feel if this was to go on too long with the rumours and poor form that they may decide to sell him (highly unlikely but the player is thinking in the eyes of the club). Something he does state in that quote is that he has always said that he will end his career at Barcelona and I fully believe if the decision is in his own hands Lionel Messi will retire at Barcelona and go down as one of the best players of all time (one of because for me the best player of all time is and will be considered Cristiano Ronaldo).
So there it is, in my opinion this is just another Bale to Manchester United or a Ronaldo to Manchester United… its unrealistic fantasy that the papers want to keep alive so they can sell papers and keep the name of their respective companies relevant. I’d love to know your opinion on the matter and you can share in the poll below and let me know if you think the Barcelona Legend with 259 league goals in 290 league games is gonna stay true to his word that he will retire at Barcelona or we may see him arrive on these shores sooner rather than later?
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Until next time keep growing a beard (and start if you have not!)
Matt
Bearded Blogging 