7 hours ago, Gol15 said:

If you ask me it's still better for him to stay and sit on the bench. He's their captain and legend, leaving the team in this way would be very damaging for his image and career, the captain shouldn't abandon the ship in such a way even if it's sinking. Or specially if it's sinking...

Barca were 2nd in La Liga I don't think we can say it is a sinking ship just yet though it might turn out that way.

With Suarez being allowed to leave suggests to me a new generation will be allowed to come through.

Now maybe they will be good enough maybe not and if the latter sure they will go to the market though perhaps in December if not now.

Pah, poor man's Pulisic. (etc.)

 

Seriously though, I think we'd probably need to sell about seven first-team players just to afford his wages. Plus we just got past seven years of having to build our entire team structure around the fact that we only had one genuinely good attacking player who happens to be a bit lackadaisical off the ball. 

 

In the unlikely event that he does come to the Premier League (or leaves Barcelona at all) I do hope whoever he joins draw Stoke away in the early rounds of the Cup.

Has anyone seen the new Pepsi advert?

Salah- Liverpool

Stirling - Man City

Pogba - Man Utd

Messi - ????

It’s happening!!!

I know, I know, I’ll get my coat.

So it’s either Arsenal or Tottenham 

Messi to chelsea  not in a million and one years .

 

putting that aside his wages are just short of one million ££££££££££s a WEEK .  Now that sounds shocking ,but if whatever club can Get him on a Free transfer from likes of man city ,psg to accrington stanley or afc torquay United its not such a shocking play .

the ONE MILLION per week wage Bill will be offset by the Free transfer .

Then if you do sign messi shirts sales worldwide wide will find a new unknown planet to man ,and thats not to mention  the increase to the clubs addvertising incomes . 
 

Knackers to the other players pay structure and demands for a wage increase,infact the players should take a pay reduction to be able 

to have the oppertunity to play along side messi never mind train with him if your a bench warmer .

 

If there is a club in the prem that could not take on messi via a Free transfer you have to Ask why are they  in the prem in the first place ,even former prem team bournemouth could have messi onboard for a season with their 12,000 crowd capacity ,but messi would only pick a CL playing team to run out for .

love to see him at any club in the prem apart from the mancs ,the mancs as in man utd as they still rub me up the wrong way today ,even thou they are poo these days .

i would love to see messi at dirty Leeds Leeds Leeds ,but i cant see dirty Leeds Leeds Leeds changing the way they play to suit Mr.messi .

I guess it will all come down to billionaire owner egos as to where Messi ends up ... he's probably going to have to accept a huge cut in wages if he wants to go somewhere else though ...

 

I can't see him leaving, he's in a palatial comfort zone, highest paid footballer and adored by millions. don't think he would risk all that at his age.

He's blamed for a lot of sh*t that goes wrong there too and people act like he picks the team, the manager... maybe he's just had enough of all of that?

I really think he will leave this summer and go to Man City unfortunately even with the sh*t show going on between his side , Barca and La Liga.

In a huge shock to absolutely no-one - he's staying..

 

Lionel Messi confirms he will stay at Barcelona as he breaks silence on transfer saga

Lionel Messi has issued a statement confirming he now plans to stay at Barcelona after talks with the club having previously communicated his desire for an immediate exit

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/breaking-lionel-messi-confirms-stay-22588905?1=

Lol. Who saw this coming. Messi being a shy boy is using his leverage with passive aggressive approach. Who da thunk it.

He chickened out again. Ronaldo > Messi easily only for the huge balls advantage. 

1 hour ago, Droopy said:

He chickened out again. Ronaldo > Messi easily only for the huge balls advantage. 

Not really sure you can level that at him. Barcelona refused to sell, no team would pay €700m release clause, and any court proceedings wouldve been lengthy and couldve seen city or messi being order to pay hundreds of millions. 

I hate the whole debate to be honest. Ronaldo is a fantastic footballer, messi is a fantastic footballer. 

There really isnt enough between them to argue about it. 

Rather shortsighted of Barca, they are in a bad situation financially. They could do with an approx 100m the could get selling Messi to city. Forcing him to stay one more season against his will, so he can then leave for free next season makes no sense. 

Messi is a coward. He is comfortable at a club he has unbelievable control over and he would never jeopardise his legacy and move to another league outwith his comfort zone. 

7 hours ago, MayosNoun! said:

Messi is a coward. He is comfortable at a club he has unbelievable control over and he would never jeopardise his legacy and move to another league outwith his comfort zone. 

He literally just tried to force his way out of Barcelona and you still say this kind of sh*t,
People praise Totti or Gerrard for being loyal to their teams but somehow Messi is a coward for spending most of his carreer in Barcelona. 

Does he really have unbelievable control over the club? Definitelly doesnt seem like it since he  wasn´t allowed to leave and bashed the board for not having a plan for the club, but maybe you know things no one else does. 

9 hours ago, MayosNoun! said:

Messi is a coward. He is comfortable at a club he has unbelievable control over and he would never jeopardise his legacy and move to another league outwith his comfort zone. 

You are calling Messi a coward for deciding to not enter into a long and drawn out legal battle with the club he has been at since he was 13. Messi is angry with the Barca board, but I assume he still cares about the club and fans after so many years, to end his time there with a messy legal battle would be awful.

For me this is why I class Ronaldo as the better player. Ronaldo has been in Portugal, England, Spain and Italy and has proven himself in all of those leagues.

I wouldn't call Messi a coward at all, but he has his comfort zone compared to Ronaldo. Ever since Barca lost Xavi and then Iniesta they haven't been the same.

Edited September 5, 20205 yr by Malcolm9

5 hours ago, Montessori said:

He literally just tried to force his way out of Barcelona and you still say this kind of sh*t,

No he didn't, he manipulated the situation with threats of leaving to get what he wanted like a little stroppy sh*t. He was never leaving and anyone who thought he was is a fool. 

19 minutes ago, dkw said:

No he didn't, he manipulated the situation with threats of leaving to get what he wanted like a little stroppy sh*t. He was never leaving and anyone who thought he was is a fool. 

Couldn’t have put this any better. 
 

Messi cheerleaders will never see beyond his talent on the pitch. He’s a stroppy control freak who is absolutely sh*t scared to leave his comfort zone. 

5 hours ago, Montessori said:

He literally just tried to force his way out of Barcelona and you still say this kind of sh*t,
People praise Totti or Gerrard for being loyal to their teams but somehow Messi is a coward for spending most of his carreer in Barcelona. 

Does he really have unbelievable control over the club? Definitelly doesnt seem like it since he  wasn´t allowed to leave and bashed the board for not having a plan for the club, but maybe you know things no one else does. 

If you genuinely believe Messi was ever going to leave then there is no point continuing with this conversation. Delusional. 

2 hours ago, Malcolm9 said:

For me this is why I class Ronaldo as the better player. Ronaldo has been in Portugal, England, Spain and Italy and has proven himself in all of those leagues.

I wouldn't call Messi a coward at all, but he has his comfort zone compared to Ronaldo. Ever since Barca lost Xavi and then Iniesta they haven't been the same.

The underwear model wishes he was half the footballer Messi is. 

I understand that casual football fans fans like yourself like the CR7 is he scores a lot of goals, but that is all he does. 

Messi, is an elite goalscorer, passer, dribbler, creater, if R9 had not been blighted by injures he probably have become the GOAT. To even compare Messi to CR7 is just plain insulting to Messi. 

 

11 minutes ago, kiwi1691 said:

The underwear model wishes he was half the footballer Messi is. 

I understand that casual football fans fans like yourself like the CR7 is he scores a lot of goals, but that is all he does. 

Messi, is an elite goalscorer, passer, dribbler, creater, if R9 had not been blighted by injures he probably have become the GOAT. To even compare Messi to CR7 is just plain insulting to Messi. 

 

Fully agree, I respect Ronaldo but Messi is on another level.

I actually travelled to a Barcelona game just to watch him once, he actually had a bad game for his standards but even then his talent was unbelievably clear.

Really don't see the points in these comparisons.

Both are once in a generation greats who have brought to their teams what no one else could have dreamed of. Don't think Messi wanting to stay in Barcelona (in his comfort zone) lessens his greatness in any way, he has achieved so much and probably deserves to have a say in the future of a club he has brought to the very top. Just like Hazard not running off to Madrid after 2-3 years with us doesn't make him a coward.

Personal choices of where your family is comfortable, where your friends are, etc. should play an important role in such choices, it cannot and shouldn't be all about ambition!

Would have loved either of them here last year but getting them now will complicate what seems to be a clear plan that's in place. But not that there was really a chance of getting either of them 😂