Lionel Messi

Status
Not open for further replies.
diarm said:
As a legitimate business project. On a personal level, for Messi himself and his agent, City or PSG can give him more money under the table than he will ever be able to count.
Click to expand...
I guess it will come down to Messi's personal desire to how far he wants to enhance his personal legacy and have different life experience. I'm not quite sure how earning abit more money for 2 years changes his life.

I'm sure he understands the difference between PSG/City and Manchester United in terms of historical and cultural equity and the potential reach each club provides him. Eg: if he joins PSG, most of the news reporting of his PSG career will be in French language, which dramatically limits its accessibility to global audience. Thats been a major issue for him, in terms of global exposure, whilst in Spain. Also if he is after a new life experience, why join up with his ex colleagues at City. Seems like a very boring and overly safe option.

If he wanted to be remembered at the best player that ever lived, Manchester United provides him that platform better than any other club available, given the status, scrutiny and exposure that he would enjoy.
 
MattofManchester said:
Has everyone forgotten that Messi once mentioned he'd like to return to Argentina eventually? I think he might see this as his chance, I suppose.
Click to expand...

So does just about every great Argentine player like ADM and Aguero and Tevez before them. Doesn't mean they won't stick around longer Europe if they can which Messi 100% can for the next 5 years

Newell's isn't going anywhere and they'd still accept him at age 40, 50, 60 whatever :lol:
 
He's clearly going to City. Which is ridiculous. fecking City.

His wages will be gargantuan though and his stature could undermine an entire club, as it's currently doing with Barcelona and as he did with Argentina in the WC where he gave his own team talk or something?

I genuinely don't think Ole would want him. Obviously me on the other hand, as a fan, with a chance to see Messi in a United shirt, would pay what it takes.
 
ThinkTank@Cafe said:
Those who want Messi to United don't realize that they are voting for a Sanchez on steroids. Let it sink. Sanchez, in turn, was a Rooney on steroids.

Multiply the damage by 3. Even if Messi has a couple of tremendous seasons (which is not a fact), the transfer wouldn’t justify having ageing Messi for another 2 seasons. And he won’t sign a short term deal.

Another gamble of huge proportions. Falcao, SchweinSchneider, Di Maria, Sanchez...You never learn, do you?
Click to expand...
What is there to sink in when arguably the greatest footballer in the history of the game is compared with Falcao, Di Maria, Schneider, and Sanchez?

Unless he suffers a big injury, Messi can easily play for another three years at the highest level. A declining Messi is still world-class. He's still one of the top five attacking players in world football.

But this discussion in a United board is senseless.
1. We don't have the money to pay his insane wages. Glazers would never sanction the move.
2. Why would he come to United, anyway? If he moves to England, City is the obvious destination. They can pay him better, has a better chance of winning silverware, and importantly, City have Pep. I don't think any big player from Spain would prefer United over City as long as City have Guardiola and the rich owners.
3. The footballing side of things will definitely improve, but the instant benefit would be in the 'club's brand value' and in other business-related aspects. The financial risks can be offset by commercial gains. This move has a romanticistic feel about it - the GOAT played for 'our' club. Financially, it makes no sense to buy Messi at his age.

City and PSG fit the bill perfectly, United don't. I don't even think this is worth discussing here.
 
Last edited:
if city somehow magically re do their owners sponsorship deals to make this work, id be all over them if im uefa
 
tenpoless said:
Maybe this is why Sancho saga takes so long to finish :wenger:
Click to expand...
You can just imagine Ed all pleased with himself: "Well, if Messi is on a free, you should be paying us to take Sancho, Anyway, call me back when you get this. Love yo--I mean, shit, ignore that last bit. Force of habit. Bye."
 
ThinkTank@Cafe said:
Those who want Messi to United don't realize that they are voting for a Sanchez on steroids. Let it sink. Sanchez, in turn, was a Rooney on steroids.

Multiply the damage by 3. Even if Messi has a couple of tremendous seasons (which is not a fact), the transfer wouldn’t justify having ageing Messi for another 2 seasons. And he won’t sign a short term deal.

Another gamble of huge proportions. Falcao, SchweinSchneider, Di Maria, Sanchez...You never learn, do you?
Click to expand...

Bloody hell I wish Sanchez was our leading all time record goal scorer on steroids...
 
sewey89 said:
He's clearly going to City. Which is ridiculous. fecking City.
His wages will be gargantuan though and his stature could undermine an entire club, as it's currently doing with Barcelona and as he did with Argentina in the WC where he gave his own team talk or something?
I genuinely don't think Ole would want him. Obviously me on the other hand, as a fan, with a chance to see Messi in a United shirt, would pay what it takes.
Click to expand...
Yeah, its clearly head vs heart.
The head says on a logical and analytical basis that he would totally mess up our long term tactical plans, wage structure and dressing room dynamics. It isn't the obvious solution to our problems.
But if you were playing Football Manager, you wouldn't hesitate for a second, Fcuk it, you have Lionel Messi in your team - what a laugh that would be for a few years, no matter what happened afterwards. Sign him up!

Given where we are right now, signing him would be reckless. But I suspect Woodward is finding it very very hard to resist at least trying.
 
Last edited:
arnie_ni said:
if city somehow magically re do their owners sponsorship deals to make this work, id be all over them if im uefa
Click to expand...
UEFA's already proven they're not competent enough to successfully enforce their own rules at the highest level given how the 2 shadiest big clubs have both gotten away with just about anything they want.

UEFA nor the CAS will save us in this regard, Citeh and their army of top lawyers will be ready for anything if they pull this off
 
At 33, I don't think it makes sense to see him at United but I might be wrong.
 
The next team Messi goes to will be an adidas sponsored team.

They will be pushing hard for him to be finally kitted out in all adidas at club level and a deal of this magnitude will need the sponsors help especially the amount of shirt sales he'll generate them.

Him playing with a Barcelona Nike kit means his name makes tonnes of money for Nike without them having to sponsor him. Crazy.

So I can imagine adidas will want to be raking in club level kit money.

Hmm were sponsored by Adidas :D
 
Make no mistake, he is still the best in the world and nothing like Schweinsteiger, Sanchez or whoever you want to name. He gets "service" from Sergi Roberto, Vidal, Busquet and Semedo under a coach like Setien who was fired by Betis. Without Suarez and Messi Barca would not even make top 4 in La Liga right now.

At City with Pep there will be fireworks.
 
Gasolin said:
At 33, I don't think it makes sense to see him at United but I might be wrong.
Click to expand...
Nah you’re right. At this stage of his career he needs an instant win club. City is that club. The fact he knows Pep and other key personnel only helps
 
This feels like a Sanchez situation to me which we shouldn't be looking for

Like, as mad as it is to say (when you are talking about possibly the greatest of all time), will Messi's heart really be in whatever club he joins?
 
Cait Sith said:
Make no mistake, he is still the best in the world and nothing like Schweinsteiger, Sanchez or whoever you want to name. He gets "service" from Sergi Roberto, Vidal, Busquet and Semedo under a coach like Setien who was fired by Betis. Without Suarez and Messi Barca would not even make top 4 in La Liga right now.

At City with Pep there will be fireworks.
Click to expand...
Exactly, he's quite literally been carrying that aging side on his back for years. They've spent massive money on flop signings and a manager carousel and have still won the league + gone deep in Europe more often than not mainly off his own individual brilliance. He's been their failsafe in the face of horrendous club management and I suspect, by many accounts as well, that he's fed up of it

He'd actually be taking a big step up in terms of support and quality around him if he joined the neighbors quite honestly
 
If he leaves I don't think it'll be on a free, probably similar money to what Juventus payed for Ronaldo. The clause expired it probably references a specific date and not 'end of the season' which is meaningless, so he won't be able to leave on a free.
 
stepic said:
Nah you’re right. At this stage of his career he needs an instant win club. City is that club. The fact he knows Pep and other key personnel only helps
Click to expand...
If we get Sancho, he could share game time with Bruno... and provides to Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho and Martial.
 
stepic said:
Nah you’re right. At this stage of his career he needs an instant win club. City is that club. The fact he knows Pep and other key personnel only helps
Click to expand...

An instant win club who didn't win either the league last year or have ever been past the QF of the euro?
 
Sigma said:
If he leaves I don't think it'll be on a free, probably similar money to what Juventus payed for Ronaldo. The clause expired it probably references a specific date and not 'end of the season' which is meaningless, so he won't be able to leave on a free.
Click to expand...

Even if he is able to take Barca to court and get a ruling that allows him to leave on a free surely that would take months at the very least?
 
You know what feck it. I cant wait to see the goat in the prem. My footballing curiosity is playing a big role over my contempt for City.

Its nice to know he lives near me as well :lol:
 
BBC World at One have a reporter from a Barcelona sports channel saying City are already negotiating a 2 year contract - Messi wants Guardiola to commit to two years as manager. Free transfer would be a legal argument, but Barca need money desperately and may be willing to take a huge cut on his release fee. Anyone know where City stand on the joke FFP regulations now? If they get him free they could offset the salary against his book value?
 
Brophs said:
You can just imagine Ed all pleased with himself: "Well, if Messi is on a free, you should be paying us to take Sancho, Anyway, call me back when you get this. Love yo--I mean, shit, ignore that last bit. Force of habit. Bye."
Click to expand...
:lol:
 
Surely after City signed Messi, Liverpool signed Thiago and Chelsea signed Harvetz and everyone else, this would force us to up our bid on Sancho - from 70m to 71m?
 
he's not going to psg because playing in the French league will not look good on his legacy.

he's not going to go to inter Milan with instability they with a manager like conte in charge and he could easily find himself in the same mess that he has got fed up with at Barca.

He is clearly going to go to man city as the big reason he is leaving Barca is because of how badly run the club has become at this point and the reality is man city can offer him a club primed to challenge for top honours next season, a stable and smoothly run club with a long term vision laid out and he will reassuringly know what he will be letting himself in for by playing in a side managed by a former manager of his that enjoyed playing for in pep Guardiola.

It would be pure delusion from any fellow united fan to think he would consider us, though its same delusion from the united fanbase that has this club in state that it is now days.
 
Last edited:
TheLord said:
What is there to sink in when arguably the greatest footballer in the history of the game is compared with Falcao, Di Maria, Schneider, and Sanchez?

Unless he suffers a big injury, Messi can easily play for another three years at the highest level. A declining Messi is still world-class. He's still one of the top five attacking players in world football.

But this discussion in a United board is senseless.
1. We don't have the money to pay his insane wages. Glazers would never sanction the move.
2. Why would he come to United, anyway? If he moves to England, City is the obvious destination. They can pay him better, has a better chance of winning silverware, and importantly, City have Pep. I don't think any big player from Spain would prefer United over City as long as City have Guardiola and the rich owners.
3. The footballing side of things will definitely improve, but the instant benefit would be in the 'club's brand value' and in other business-related aspects. The financial risks can be offset by commercial gains. This move has a romanticistic feel about it - the GOAT played for 'our' club. Financially, it makes no sense to buy Messi at his age.

City and PSG fit the bill perfectly, United don't. I don't even think this is worth discussing here.
Click to expand...

Look, I’m barely resisting the temptation to go all muppet and hope for Messi leading our forward line. I fully realize who Messi is.

But life taught me that everything should be considered including the consequences. People here tend just to ignore them.

I made a post trying to analyze how we can justify his salaries, but it went unnoticed because it’s not fun, and you know, Messi is the best ever.

My point is that he will come at a royal cost, he is 33, and he is coming to a new, arguably the toughest league. All these are facts, not something I just happen to have an opinion of.
 
stepic said:
Nah you’re right. At this stage of his career he needs an instant win club. City is that club. The fact he knows Pep and other key personnel only helps
Click to expand...
He's already done it at instant win clubs. He'd actually have a challenge if he went somewhere like United or Inter etc, but it's not going to happen.

Pretty sure he stays at Barca.
 
sammsky1 said:
Yeah, its clearly head vs heart.
The head says on a logical and analytical basis that he would totally mess up our long term tactical plans, wage structure and dressing room dynamics. It isn't the obvious solution to our problems.
But if you were playing Football Manager, you wouldn't hesitate for a second. Fcuki t, you have Lionel Messi in your team - what a laugh that would be for a few years, no matter what happened afterwards. Sign him up!

Given where we are right now, signing him would be reckless. But I suspect Woodward is finding it very very hard to resist at least trying.
Click to expand...

Completely agree. I do feel that Woodward feels like he needs to make a 'big signing'. Hopefully he'll realise that Sancho is a massive one.
 
GazTheLegend said:
This feels like a Sanchez situation to me which we shouldn't be looking for
Like, as mad as it is to say (when you are talking about possibly the greatest of all time), will Messi's heart really be in whatever club he joins?
Click to expand...
Its a huge issue!

After graduation, I stayed with my first employer for 11 years, and loved being there. Eventually I grew out of the place and needed to move on to develop. But when I moved to my next employer, I had an emotional hangover that lasted at least 18 months and was always comparing my new place to my previous one.

After a while, I had to admit to myself that my previous employer had 'indoctrinated me' and I had been 'institutionally cloned'. It wasn't a bad thing to be, as it was all legal and virtuous. But it was every difficult to shake this off, and relatively speaking, I failed at my 2nd employer, through no fault of theirs.

I fear this dynamic will be even more fierce for Messi, given he's been at Barcelona since being a boy, and the whole club was designed with him at the centre. Suddenly turning up in Manchester or Paris and travelling to new places and pitches will be a massive jolt to his system, no matter how much he tries to embrace it. It can quickly lead to a severe identity crisis and meltdown.
 
Last edited:
Brophs said:
You can just imagine Ed all pleased with himself: "Well, if Messi is on a free, you should be paying us to take Sancho, Anyway, call me back when you get this. Love yo--I mean, shit, ignore that last bit. Force of habit. Bye."
Click to expand...

Post of the year :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:



predator said:
You know what feck it. I cant wait to see the goat in the prem. My footballing curiosity is playing a big role over my contempt for City.

Its nice to know he lives near me as well :lol:
Click to expand...

This is also how I feel. I don't care who (other than Liverpool) I just want to see him in the Prem.
 
Discussion is academic really, at 33 he's not going to move to a club in the midst of a rebuilding exercise, so if he comes to the EPL it's probably going to be City, and mostly because of Pep.
It's a tempting thought having him at United, in the sense of "who wouldn't want Messi", but a player at the end of his career is a risk - worked well for a season with Van Persie and Ibra, but clearly would be a short-term solution and an expensive one at that. We also need players who really want to come to United and aren't just looking for big money, and sadly Messi is unlikely to fall in that category.
An intriguing thought - would Jose try and get Daniel Levy to coax him to Spurs?
 
dalriada said:
Discussion is academic really, at 33 he's not going to move to a club in the midst of a rebuilding exercise, so if he comes to the EPL it's probably going to be City, and mostly because of Pep.
It's a tempting thought having him at United, in the sense of "who wouldn't want Messi", but a player at the end of his career is a risk - worked well for a season with Van Persie and Ibra, but clearly would be a short-term solution and an expensive one at that. We also need players who really want to come to United and aren't just looking for big money, and sadly Messi is unlikely to fall in that category.
An intriguing thought - would Jose try and get Daniel Levy to coax him to Spurs?
Click to expand...
Levy paying for Messi. :lol:
 
Scriblerus said:
BBC World at One have a reporter from a Barcelona sports channel saying City are already negotiating a 2 year contract - Messi wants Guardiola to commit to two years as manager. Free transfer would be a legal argument, but Barca need money desperately and may be willing to take a huge cut on his release fee. Anyone know where City stand on the joke FFP regulations now? If they get him free they could offset the salary against his book value?
Click to expand...
I’m sure Messi has been having conversations with City for a while, and would only have gone nuclear vs Barcelona knowing this was a definite option.

Pep will happily stay two more years with Messi, in fact it will be exactly the motivation he needs to become refreshed and refocused to usurp Liverpool and Munich.

I feel that if this were 2010 and we had SAF and Gill as leaders, Messi would love the opportunity to work with the boss.

Sheiks in Abu Dhabi must be dancing around like kids at the prospect of owning such an asset. I know it’s because of Peteo dollar financial doping, but the fact that we can’t compete with city on so many fronts on this transfer is really demoralising. We are so far behind them on so many levels.
 
Suppose Messi loses out on the legal clause.

What if Barcelona wanted Martial or Rashford in return?

Would people still be in favour?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.