I am pleased Messi won't be joining Chelsea as great a player as he is. Great players don't by themselves make great teams, just look at Messi and Argentina. Messi, in my view, would completely disrupt Chelsea. Right now my vibe is the club has a great performance based culture. The team respect Tuchel. Tuchel respects management. The players are mostly comfortable with each other and the merit order is well established. Nothing seems particularly out of line.

Messi would change that completely. It would be tuchel, the rest of the team and messi. I can see how his style would fit but at the expense of Mount or Havertz. Messi is certainly not an out and out striker.

Completely the wrong choice at this point and I expect the club is well enough run to understand that. Even Pep understands that.

 

2 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Just yesterday he tweeted how Messi is signing a new contract for Barcelona done deal official spit in hand pinky finger

Would not be the first free transfer involving Barca and PSG he got badly wrong this window either.

How does Barcelona even recover from losing Messi? The players they have bought over years and their current financial position really has messed them up. They haven't been good with Messi, so I don't see how they compete with the best again any time soon without him. I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped off like AC Milan did. 

Real Madrid ain't in a great position either. Losing Ramos and Varane in the same window is crazy. Their most valuable players are Benzema and Modric, and both them are showing their age, they should have had replacements lined up a few seasons back. They desperately need Hazard to find his best again, but it's been a long time since that happened and I doubt he can ever reach his highest levels again.

When you look at the situation, you can see why the two Spanish teams want the Super League so badly. They are desperate, it's possibly their last chance to stop themselves losing their status as giants of Europe.

Barca should have sold Messi two seasons ago and used the money to rebuild. Same as us selling hazard or even real selling Ronaldo. Though real did a bad job with the money. One of the great things bout Ferguson was he knew how to sell his players and rebuild. 

13 minutes ago, ozboy said:

Barca should have sold Messi two seasons ago and used the money to rebuild. Same as us selling hazard or even real selling Ronaldo. Though real did a bad job with the money. One of the great things bout Ferguson was he knew how to sell his players and rebuild. 

Ferguson didn't want to sell Ronaldo. 

We didn't want to sell Hazard

Edited August 7, 20214 yr by Bob stark

7 hours ago, Luiz4Chelsea said:

Maybe now is the time for a cheeky 100m-150m EUR bid for Mbappé, so that PSG can offset the... ah well who cares

Stick in bids for Veratti & Marquinhos and see what happens.

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

Ferguson didn't want to sell Ronaldo. 

We didn't want to sell Hazard

Elizabeth didn’t want to sign Mary’s execution warrant but she did. 

1 hour ago, ozboy said:

Elizabeth didn’t want to sign Mary’s execution warrant but she did. 

Makes no sense 🙂

Fergie sold Ronaldo because Ronaldo wanted to move. We sold Hazard because he wanted to move. It wasn't some great foresight from the managers.

I don't think there's much doubt that Man U will have won many more trophies with Ronaldo around.

Basically these weren't genius moves by the managers or clubs, these were clubs respecting players' wishes to leave. Messi never really wanted to leave.

2 hours ago, ozboy said:

Elizabeth didn’t want to sign Mary’s execution warrant but she did. 

Based on what you said we should have sold Kante last season or better yet two seasons ago.

 

2 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

Based on what you said we should have sold Kante last season or better yet two seasons ago.

 

Or beheaded him 

Donnarumma, Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Verratti, Wijnaldum, Mbappe, Neymar, Messi - a squad built for one purpose and think it is fair to say PSG as a club should be dissolved should they fail to win the UCL this season or the next one.

 

3 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Donnarumma, Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Verratti, Wijnaldum, Mbappe, Neymar, Messi - a squad built for one purpose and think it is fair to say PSG as a club should be dissolved should they fail to win the UCL this season or the next one.

 

Nice pressure on Pocchettino. 

1 hour ago, ashwin said:

Makes no sense 🙂

Fergie sold Ronaldo because Ronaldo wanted to move. We sold Hazard because he wanted to move. It wasn't some great foresight from the managers.

I don't think there's much doubt that Man U will have won many more trophies with Ronaldo around.

Basically these weren't genius moves by the managers or clubs, these were clubs respecting players' wishes to leave. Messi never really wanted to leave.

 

 

The Ronaldo sale was completely different to what we are talking about here. If you look at ManU during Fergies time  heaps of players like Beckham were moved on Giggs was an exception   As for Hazard he may have wanted to go but it just proves the point  we sold himmat the right time, bought Werner with the money. 

As for Kante, I’m glad he stayed and he looks fantastic in pre season. But if he was injured again this season I wouldn’t be in the least surprised. Hope not though. Kante is 30. It actually is time to think about it, at the end of this season. Unpopular view I’m sure 

 

Edited August 7, 20214 yr by ozboy

46 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Donnarumma, Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Verratti, Wijnaldum, Mbappe, Neymar, Messi - a squad built for one purpose and think it is fair to say PSG as a club should be dissolved should they fail to win the UCL this season or the next one.

 

Well I sure looks like a fun Fifa team to play with... 

3 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Donnarumma, Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Verratti, Wijnaldum, Mbappe, Neymar, Messi - a squad built for one purpose and think it is fair to say PSG as a club should be dissolved should they fail to win the UCL this season or the next one.

 

Forgot they bought Hakimi. Where is that money coming from to afford Messi then? PSG players must be on huge wages already. 

Worth asking the question to Messi and his management, but sounds like PSG is a done deal.

PSG's squad is ridiculous. They should be winning everything this season.

Messi to PSG is just about the most boring conclusion to him leaving Barca. 

There is zero romance or intrigue in Messi to PSG. 

5 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Donnarumma, Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Verratti, Wijnaldum, Mbappe, Neymar, Messi - a squad built for one purpose and think it is fair to say PSG as a club should be dissolved should they fail to win the UCL this season or the next one.

 

To many Egos for one dressing room, I predict total anarchy for Pocchettino.

5 hours ago, ozboy said:

The Ronaldo sale was completely different to what we are talking about here. If you look at ManU during Fergies time  heaps of players like Beckham were moved on Giggs was an exception   As for Hazard he may have wanted to go but it just proves the point  we sold himmat the right time, bought Werner with the money. 

As for Kante, I’m glad he stayed and he looks fantastic in pre season. But if he was injured again this season I wouldn’t be in the least surprised. Hope not though. Kante is 30. It actually is time to think about it, at the end of this season. Unpopular view I’m sure 

 

But we didn't want to sell Hazard. Selling your best player is small team mentality. KDB is 30, I don't see city selling him. 

Same with Kante, if we sell Kante 2 years ago we would have gotten 100m. But bye2 cl, bye2 cl title. If we start doing what you said we are just a development team, we are kinda like expensive version of Southampton 

10 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

How does Barcelona even recover from losing Messi? The players they have bought over years and their current financial position really has messed them up. They haven't been good with Messi, so I don't see how they compete with the best again any time soon without him. I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped off like AC Milan did. 

Barca's recruitment for the last few years has been terrible. 

We moan about Chelsea but look at how signings like Courtinho have worked out. £140m and he's spent most of his time out on loan or getting booed by the home support. 

Dembele cost about £130m and has done nothing in 4 years. He doesn't even have 20 league goals to his name yet. 

Griezeman has been in and out of the team since signing for £100m and now stuck on massive wages. 

Pjanic bought in on huge wages and £50m fee despite already being 30 years old. 

Vidal bought for £20m and released on a free within 2 years. 

Even De Jong has struggled being played all over the pitch not really fitting in with their midfield. 

Their wage bill is a mess. Most of their starting XI earns more than most Premier Club's top earners. 

Whatever mess comes their way will be of their own making and it'll be hilarious. 

30 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Messi to PSG is just about the most boring conclusion to him leaving Barca. 

There is zero romance or intrigue in Messi to PSG. 

I bet the PSG supporters can't even count down quarante-huit heures 

5 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Donnarumma, Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Verratti, Wijnaldum, Mbappe, Neymar, Messi - a squad built for one purpose and think it is fair to say PSG as a club should be dissolved should they fail to win the UCL this season or the next one.

 

Big names, and Pochettino to manage them 

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Messi to PSG is just about the most boring conclusion to him leaving Barca. 

There is zero romance or intrigue in Messi to PSG. 

The romance is Neymar and Messi reuniting. The cynic in me would point out Neymar left Barca to get out of his shadow, and were rumours to be believed that Neymar has offered his shirt to Messi it would seem like this full circle is pointless. 

However, where would the fun be if everything remained predictable. Messi signing an extension was a mere formality less than a week ago. Now we get to see him play for another team in another league which yeah is below his level but, for him as a professional serves his purpose very well.

He won't have to be at his best every single week which may seem counter productive for the UCL since the reason we won it this past season was because of the league we played in (every game is must win thus requiring us to be at our best for every single game we play in a season).

Messi on the other hand isn't getting any younger and so he must consider how he can continue to play at his top level. Not playing every single league fixture at least til the end could go a long way to ensuring this.

Psg dont need Messi to win the French league (although they certainly could have used him last season or perhaps if they didn't let Tuchel go they would have won).

It's hard to explain Neymar and Messi's relationship, whilst they may be brothers they are also competitors. The fact Neymar is willing to share his spotlight with Leo, imo shows personal growth. I know he shares it with Mbappe but, we're he to leave Paris alongside France would be his kingdom so why would he want Messi to overshadow him again?

I think Leo keeps him grounded, helps him focus on his football and enjoy it productively. We could potentially see Neymar have his best ever professional season this coming campaign.

Yes having Mbappe and Messi in your team is definitely going to help with this but, I expect him to go up another level similar if not better to his earlier Barca seasons.

Seeing two best friends reunite and attempt to complete a mission PSG have sought for over a decade since they had their owners take over seems pretty romantic to me. Especially considering it was their owners dream to sign either Messi or Ronaldo.

I was browsing Redcafe and noticed a posted mentioned us with city and PSG as cooking the books. They can f**king talk! They have barely made £100m in sales in the last 3 transfer windows. Meanwhile we've made a fair bit of profit on sold players, but also they spend almost £200m on three players while we never had a transfer window to spend in. They also spent around £60m+ on Diallo, Van de Been, and Telles - all have sat in the bench for most of the season. 

Edited August 7, 20214 yr by enigma

2 hours ago, enigma said:

I was browsing Redcafe and noticed a posted mentioned us with city and PSG as cooking the books. They can f**king talk! They have barely made £100m in sales in the last 3 transfer windows. Meanwhile we've made a fair bit of profit on sold players, but also they spend almost £200m on three players while we never had a transfer window to spend in. They also spent around £60m+ on Diallo, Van de Been, and Telles - all have sat in the bench for most of the season. 

Yeah but they’ve got their money the proper way like syphoning millions in charity money raised from the Munich air disaster that was never given to the victims, or the investor who was making money from selling rotten meat to school children in the 80s.

They never remember the millionaire businessman that saved them from being a forgotten obscurity in the 1930s and pumped money into the team.  The original Roman.