Getting Messi

Mendonca In Asdas said:

Yeah yeah yeah, comes up every summer, Messi says he wants to leave .... again, normally means he wants a new contract, but is this the summer he finally says enough is enough?

I reckon it's a play to get their President to resign.

If he does leave it gives them the chance to do a proper rebuild. Barcelona are crippled because of an ageing squad on high salaries. Messi is 33 and earns about 750k a week.

I'd still be surprised if he does actually leave though, but he is supposedly extremely pissed off with the way the club is being run, Neymar leaving, poor signings etc, and now his best mate Suarez has been told he can leave, that won't have helped his mood either.

I think he’ll go to City

guinnessaddick said:

https://twitter.com/stancollymore/status/1298326776482017281?s=21

Could history repeat itself? Player asking to leave Barcelona, ends up at Charlton... Surely not... :-)

This is gonna be a serious legal battle 

Messi has a clause that allows him to leave for free.

That clause is between May-June

Messi wqnts to activate that cause as June to Covid the season has just finished so we are technically in what would be the May-June period.

Barcelona are saying we are in August and past the May-June period so that clause has gone.

Could be very interesting 

The Barca president has apparently resigned.. i'd put money on Messi staying at Barca now

I think Messi will definitely leave Barca but I don’t think he’ll come Prem. My bet would either be somewhere like China or Inter. 

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1298437004254879745?s=20

Man City weasel their way out of a Champions League Ban for violating FFP, then will probably sign Messi. UEFA can fuck right off

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

Rossman92 said:

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1298437004254879745?s=20

Man City weasel their way out of a Champions League Ban for violating FFP, then will probably sign Messi. UEFA can fuck right off

As a football fan i'd be pleased to see him come and play in England though.

UEFA/FFP/Champions league is another world away from Charlton, so i'm not too fussed about that. 

100 percent. 
Even a 33 year old Messi will be a joy to watch.

Rothko said:

Only the petro-state clubs would be able to afford him, and Dubai v Qatar in a bidding war would be great for Messi already massive bank balance 

Be surprised if Messis move will be money driven.

Rothko said:

AdTheAddicK said:

Rothko said:

Only the petro-state clubs would be able to afford him, and Dubai v Qatar in a bidding war would be great for Messi already massive bank balance 

Be surprised if Messis move will be money driven.

It’ll help, he’s not going to take a pay cut 

If he wants out of Barcelona like he says he does, then he might have to? Especially if they can't get over the release clause.

From a purely football on the pitch viewpoint, we’d all like to watch Messi score 5 goals against Palace on a Tuesday night! 

Garrymanilow said:

I actually think a move to City might end in tears for all involved. It's more likely it will go very well of course, but one very notable thing about 33 year old Messi is he doesn't like to run if he doesn't have to. Barcelona brought in Arturo Vidal to basically do Messi's running for him and that didn't work out. Guardiola is a very exacting manager; if people aren't pressing his way all over the pitch he gives them no end of grief, as Sterling and Aguero have learned. Pep knows Messi well and will likely make exceptions for him because he's so good, but City will likely have to alter the way they play slightly in order to work around Messi which will be interesting. Does Pep change his whole set-up for Messi, does he try to force him to adapt his game a bit to find a middle ground? Either way it will be a good watch.

I do hope he ends up at City. Seeing Messi in the Prem would be fantastic, and it would definitely add an extra spark to the title race given that you can see Liverpool having another really good season

I think he'd probably have to.

I'm not saying Messi can't adapt, as he can probably play anywhere and do anything, but i just don't see a 33 year old Messi changing the way he plays that much, so you'd surely adapt your side to play around him.
He'd probably want certain assurances before agreeing to sign anyway.

Be interesting to see what happens if they do sign him though. Firstly you then minimise the effect other players have, like De Bruyne for example. Everything goes through him now, but that won't happen if Messi is your playmaker. Secondly they'd surely have to offload some top quality players. If you have Messi as your right sided attacker then you don't need both Mahrez and Bernardo.

In any case, as incredible a player as he is, it still won't hide the fact that City's problem is with their defence.