He might go to PSG but I literally think they could struggle in the CL if they sign him.

Neymar - Mbappe - Messi.

Insane attack obviously but none of them track back or do much defensively. Against the top, top teams in the knockout phase that could hurt them.

6 minutes ago, Night-T said:

Def will go to City or PSG. 2 teams that don't care about FFP. 

FFP is dead and the EPL does not have a salary cap like La Liga

We'd be mad not to try sign him on a 2-year deal, a player like him tears apart deep defenses and he'd tear the league a new one.

According to reports PSG already made enquiries about Messi after this last news. They have already asked about his availability months back when Barcelona and Messi started negotiating a new deal. 

He will absolutely not come to Chelsea. We are offering Lukaku 12m a year. So a million per month / 250k a week. Messi made 100m per year in Barcelona. Even this slashed price 50m per year and Barcelona couldn't meet the criteria of sustainable business in the lines of FFP and lines set by La Liga. 

We won't smash our wage structure even for him. Which for me is okay. We can't generate as much money with the relatively small SB capacity and we have much less following around the world. Messi would absolutely change that to the better with his face value but I think PSG and City have found a way to go around FFP and will flex that muscle once again with Messi. 

Just now, evissy said:

 Messi made 100m per year in Barcelona. 

No he did not, not as a wage from the club. Barcelona were not paying him €2M a week in wages!

Lionel Messi's new contract with Barcelona

Messi's previous contract with Barcelona, which lapsed at midnight on 1st July, was reportedly worth a staggering £476m over four years - that's an eye-watering £119m per season.

 

In addition to that, his signing-on fee was £99m alone, with a further £67m due as a loyalty bonus.

 

Messi will be taking a 50 per cent pay cut in the new contract to stay on at Barcelona for the next five years. So that's £238m, which is roughly £60m per season, if we halve his last reported earnings from the club.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportbible.com/football/53021-lionel-messi-contract-details-barcelona-20210715.amp.html

 

Not sure how reliable this is. 

10 hours ago, Valpo said:

I would point out a big difference though.  Chelsea is going to have to hand over a crap ton of money in transfer fees to sign Lukaku.  

Messi is a free transfer.  You only have to pay his wages which will be considerable but still cheaper than Lukaku's transfer fee + wages.

There's no such thing as a "free" transfer. Especially when it comes to a player like Messi. 

Wages alone are likely to be £500k per week (£24m per year) then there's agent fees (let's say £15m) and a handsome little signing on fee for Messi as well (being generous let's say another £15m). 

So for one year Messi will cost in excess of £50m and that's a conservative estimate. 

39 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

There's no such thing as a "free" transfer. Especially when it comes to a player like Messi. 

Wages alone are likely to be £500k per week (£24m per year) then there's agent fees (let's say £15m) and a handsome little signing on fee for Messi as well (being generous let's say another £15m). 

So for one year Messi will cost in excess of £50m and that's a conservative estimate. 

Yes, but I don't think that's excessive for a transfer of this calibre. Not only could he propell us to the next level on the pitch, but also marketing and standing wise his impact would be huge. I would get him instead of Lukaku, then we would even save money, as Lukaku would cost more than 100 pounds straight up and then we'd also have to pay at least 15 million pounds in wages per year, agent fees, etc... So conservatively estimated we'd have to pay 120 million pounds. 

Top players cost big money, that's the way it is nowadays. And the amount we would have to pay for Messi is comparatively small due to circumstance, so why not try to pounce. Messi could like the challenge of playing in the PL.

11 minutes ago, True Blue23 said:

Yes, but I don't think that's excessive for a transfer of this calibre. Not only could he propell us to the next level on the pitch, but also marketing and standing wise his impact would be huge. I would get him instead of Lukaku, then we would even save money, as Lukaku would cost more than 100 pounds straight up and then we'd also have to pay at least 15 million pounds in wages per year, agent fees, etc... So conservatively estimated we'd have to pay 120 million pounds. 

Top players cost big money, that's the way it is nowadays. And the amount we would have to pay for Messi is comparatively small due to circumstance, so why not try to pounce. Messi could like the challenge of playing in the PL.

With the amortisation of contracts Lukaku's transfer fee and wages would be something like £35m per year. 

With Messi you're probably looking at double that. 

This isn't an argument about whether Chelsea should sign Lukaku or Messi it started with me pointing out that reasons (such as high transfer cost, high wages, little resell value, decline in ability due to age) given against signing Lukaku suddenly don't apply for signing Messi. 

5 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

With the amortisation of contracts Lukaku's transfer fee and wages would be something like £35m per year. 

With Messi you're probably looking at double that. 

This isn't an argument about whether Chelsea should sign Lukaku or Messi it started with me pointing out that reasons (such as high transfer cost, high wages, little resell value, decline in ability due to age) given against signing Lukaku suddenly don't apply for signing Messi. 

Because signing Messi is kinda like buying a Ferrari and Lukaku is more like an expensive truck

 

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

There's no such thing as a "free" transfer. Especially when it comes to a player like Messi. 

Wages alone are likely to be £500k per week (£24m per year) then there's agent fees (let's say £15m) and a handsome little signing on fee for Messi as well (being generous let's say another £15m). 

So for one year Messi will cost in excess of £50m and that's a conservative estimate. 

Still cheap as hell for a player of Messi's caliber.

About £100 million for three years of Messi should be considered a steal in my view.

22 minutes ago, Sindre said:

Still cheap as hell for a player of Messi's caliber.

About £100 million for three years of Messi should be considered a steal in my view.

We'd have to hire someone to follow him with an umbrella, a woolly hat, a snood, a pair of gloves...oh dear, one person will not be enough, the cost is rising already. Then I'm sure he'd be willing to overlook some aspects of playing in England and make himself joyfully available for the proverbial wet nights in Stoke.

Also I'd love to see kids walking around in Chelsea shirts with Messi on the back without knowing the first thing about Chelsea.

Sheer heaven, sign him up immediately!

Personally think Barca will do better without him. They need a rebuild and the money would cripple them even in his prime let alone at his age. He won’t be playing in the champions league when he’s 38 or not doing well any way. They have sold most of the Messi shirts they are going to sell. Fans like to buy the new stuff not yesterday’s hero. 

On paper it seems quite simple. Sign him to 350,000 a week two-year contract and give him the rest of in a form of a massive sign-in  bonus or something like that.

In reality though, it's never that simple. A player of that caliber will demand stipulations and clauses that would make the whole operation cost prohibitive to pretty much every club out there, apart from maybe City and PSG, for obvious reasons.

So, as tempting as it may sound, signing Messi is likely a non-starter for Chelsea. 

Edited August 6, 20214 yr by abramovich

Every team need to comply with FFP rules. Not many teams can with Messi in the books. You need income and in covid19 times it is that much harder. 

Apart from PSG and City who have found a way around it it seems. 

Joan Laporta have just confirmed he's actually leaving.
They had to put the interest of the football club before Messi and a new contract for him would risk the future of the entire club.

I think someone can still throw money at that problem but it seems Messi is leaving Barcelona. Weird to even think that. 

2 hours ago, abramovich said:

On paper it seems quite simple. Sign him to 350,000 a week two-year contract and give him the rest of in a form of a massive sign-in  bonus or something like that.

In reality though, it's never that simple. A player of that caliber will demand stipulations and clauses that would make the whole operation cost prohibitive to pretty much every club out there, apart from maybe City and PSG, for obvious reasons.

So, as tempting as it may sound, signing Messi is likely a non-starter for Chelsea. 

350.000 a week?? 

That is just dirt cheap. Even 500.000 is stil very2 cheap for Messi. 

 

Edited August 6, 20214 yr by Bob stark

Just now, Bob stark said:

350.000 a week?? 

 

Before taxes, so in the end it will be a struggle to buy his kids new shoes.

4 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

No he did not, not as a wage from the club. Barcelona were not paying him €2M a week in wages!

it was actually reported as 1.4m euros a week. so not far off. 

The fun is going to be in watching Pochettino FAIL to win the French league with a front line of Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe 🙂

Utter madness. Football has lost its mind. 

 

It's actually sickening the money in football. We support this too. PSG already have Neymar and Mbappe on their books. They must be on ridiculous wages and yet they are planning to sign Messi too. 

If he was interested and the financials were workable (I understand that's a big if) I would sign him if for no other reason than to keep Man City from getting their hands on him.  

You guys realize that if Man City signs Messi they will win everything.  

10 minutes ago, Valpo said:

If he was interested and the financials were workable (I understand that's a big if) I would sign him if for no other reason than to keep Man City from getting their hands on him.  

You guys realize that if Man City signs Messi they will win everything.  

That's what they said City was going to do this past season in March... then look what happened.

I'm all in on this one.  Reading very unreliable reports that Roman has called for urgent meetings.  He should be in a Chelsea kit by supper.

Seriously though, its all monopoly money and accounting these days.  Sounds like vast sums of money and always headline news.  Reality is large corporations generate Chelsea's annual revenue in a matter of days.  Small change in big picture (salaries aside).