Well, at least he won't be going there.
Messi?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss Amad saving our blushes in a win against Southampton as well as our now annual loss at home to Brighton. They discuss Amorim's post-match comments, revisit how mid-table we may or may not be, and discuss some transfer news.
Holy crap Lionel Messi might actually be available this summer!! We're talking about one of the greatest players of all time surely we have to put our name in the hat no ??
If he is available then I do believe Woodward would go all out to get him. It would be such a statement, and woukd take us that one step further to appearing to be the most attractive club on the planet.
I think it could backfire though. It's huge risk to take financially.
Either way I think he's at Barcelona for life and he's justplaying some games right now.
I think it could backfire though. It's huge risk to take financially.
Either way I think he's at Barcelona for life and he's justplaying some games right now.
If he does come available I think were the only ones who afford him whilst staying in line with FFP. Madrid are another option but he's wont go there.
Indeed we are but I'm sure Barcelona knowing his true worth would probably take installment payments, it would be very hard to ask a club to pay £120 million up front. It would take away from our much needed defense reinforcements, the rest of our team has good depth and quality though. Having said that for every goal we concede he'd probably score 3
Without even entertaining the idea that United might be the eventual destination I do think Messi could leave.
He was single handedly the most influential player throughout their most successful and dominant period ever. That period has peaked and passed and while they are still a great team the trophy haul has subsided since Pep left. Madrid and Atletico have upped their game and last night's Ballon d'or might just have him thinking that with a lack of trophies he wont win it back. Ronaldo got over twice as many votes as Messi and you have to think its the trophies that tip a close run debate on who is better into a clear winner of best player in the world. Even Neuer ran him close vote wise and while Neuer is undoubtedly the best goalkeeper in the world is he really on a par with Messi? I really dont think so.
So does he wait and hope Barcelona get their act together and push him back to the top or does he think that at age 27 he needs to move to a new team with new ideas. If he was to move to another team and preside over another 3-4 years of dominance there he would pretty much be cementing his claim to greatest player ever.
You have other things as well, tax issues, problems with the manager. I just think that if he is ever to leave Barcelona in his prime this would be the best time to turn his head.
He was single handedly the most influential player throughout their most successful and dominant period ever. That period has peaked and passed and while they are still a great team the trophy haul has subsided since Pep left. Madrid and Atletico have upped their game and last night's Ballon d'or might just have him thinking that with a lack of trophies he wont win it back. Ronaldo got over twice as many votes as Messi and you have to think its the trophies that tip a close run debate on who is better into a clear winner of best player in the world. Even Neuer ran him close vote wise and while Neuer is undoubtedly the best goalkeeper in the world is he really on a par with Messi? I really dont think so.
So does he wait and hope Barcelona get their act together and push him back to the top or does he think that at age 27 he needs to move to a new team with new ideas. If he was to move to another team and preside over another 3-4 years of dominance there he would pretty much be cementing his claim to greatest player ever.
You have other things as well, tax issues, problems with the manager. I just think that if he is ever to leave Barcelona in his prime this would be the best time to turn his head.
But seriously, when he says you never know, it's just another way of making sure Barca hierarchy gets the message: keep me happy or I'll start exploring my options in the summer.
I doubt he's seriously thinking about leaving and any FCB president would commit public suicide if Messi is sold on his watch, so it's nothing more than just a game Leo's playing.
I doubt he's seriously thinking about leaving and any FCB president would commit public suicide if Messi is sold on his watch, so it's nothing more than just a game Leo's playing.
Agreed, this is a pure power play by Messi...I dont expect him to leave Barca unless he isnt wanted there anymore.
I've been biased though out much of his career but I think he should leave. There's no real challenge for him. Is he still striving to improve like Ronaldo is or is there an extra 1/2% that can get gotten out of him? Because I associated his poor form (and I maybe wrong) with motivational issues. You need motivation to score 50 year in year out but is there a point, where it becomes boring? Too easy?
Messi runs Barcelona... whatever he wants, he'll get.
He's not in poor form.
One of them is in very poor form, another supposedly in the form of his life. Take your pick:
Just as a side-note: One guy has scored 9 more penalties in that goal list.
From what I've seen of LVG, he doesnt do well when utilising flair players.
LVG prefers metronomes/robots who do exactly as they are programmed (like D.Blind).
You can see what is happening with Di Maria.
I fear that Messi would be wasted at Man Utd.
Now, if at any stage K.Keegan took over, he'd have Messi scoring 2 goals per game.
If we are going to make a marquee signing this Summer, I'd rather get Bale, as we know that he is well-suited to PL football and LVG's style of play.
LVG prefers metronomes/robots who do exactly as they are programmed (like D.Blind).
You can see what is happening with Di Maria.
I fear that Messi would be wasted at Man Utd.
Now, if at any stage K.Keegan took over, he'd have Messi scoring 2 goals per game.
If we are going to make a marquee signing this Summer, I'd rather get Bale, as we know that he is well-suited to PL football and LVG's style of play.
Currently Ronaldo is supposed to be playing at a level above Messi but just realised that if you take away their penalties the stats for this season looks like this-
Messi --- 25 games 24 goals 12 assists.
Ronaldo - 28 games 23 goals 13 assists.
Not much in it tbh.
Messi --- 25 games 24 goals 12 assists.
Ronaldo - 28 games 23 goals 13 assists.
Not much in it tbh.
Poor form in terms of his style of play not his stats guys. Should have made that more clear 
I do think he might actually move in the summer. He's already achieved pretty much everything at Barca, and if he's going to ever really make an impact somewhere else it has to be fairly soon. From Barca's point of view it'd allow them to start to rebuild in a huge way and start a new generation team as well. The transfer ban would seem to be about the only thing standing in the way, so maybe they hold off until the summer afterwards, but then they risk the price dropping slightly.
Messi is playing better this season. For one, everything goes through him at barca. He has the most responsibility, and not just to grab a goal.
Poor form in terms of his style of play not his stats guys. Should have made that more clear
It's probably even more wrong in that case
You'd be right about last season, probably, but he's been brilliant this season and is regularly running the game for Barcelona. He's maybe not as good as he was a few years ago, but he's not in poor form in terms of performances or stats.
This statement makes no sense at all.
Why should Barca rebuild actually? A couple of reinforcements is enough. How do you get the idea of rebuild in here? Most of all why get rid of our best player to build the team? I have no clue how people get this idea that suddenly Barca needs to sell Messi.
Barca politics is different from Chelsea (assuming you're Chelsea fan). You don't have elections or fractions that oppose each other. Any president that even thinks of selling Messi may as well leave the country. Things could turn really nasty. The chances of management accepting bid for Messi is zero, only option is if any team willing to pay the buyout clause.
We are obviously taking the piss here right? We are not buying messi, and he isn't leaving barca anytime soon. I know barca are having a bit of a meltdown as a club, but this is just media driven bullshit. There is nothing in it, one can barely afford him and barca wouldn't even think about it.
Because their best midfielder is playing in defence.
Why was my mega Messi thread closed?
Even if Messi did decide to leave, we'd be his last destination out of the elite clubs. We seem to be making a habit of turning world class talent into a shadow of themselves at the moment.
As ridiculous as this all is, it would be pretty incredible to be the only club to have both Messi and Ronaldo play for.
It's probably even more wrong in that case
You'd be right about last season, probably, but he's been brilliant this season and is regularly running the game for Barcelona. He's maybe not as good as he was a few years ago, but he's not in poor form in terms of performances or stats.
1) I was referring to Messi last season and also the world cup and 2) I'm talking with my United hat on as I'm trying to be subtle and tap him up. He definitely need's a new challenge
If Messi were to leave, we'd be within the three clubs at most that could afford him. The other two would be Real Madrid and maybe Bayern. He would never play for Real Madrid.
Look at it from Messi's point of view, he's widely lauded as the greatest player not just in the world, but of all time. He's won every available prize at Barca, and now what does he have to play for? All I can see are the remaining few Barca records that he hasn't already broken. I don't know what he's like as a person, but it's certainly not beyond the realms of possibility to think that breaking a few historical records won't be enough to provide motivation for a player who is only 27 years old and could go on to smash records and win prizes at a new club.
As for Barca, they have an asset worth (supposedly) 250m euros, enough to build a team that could challenge anyone in Europe for many years to come. They have a new talisman in Neymar, along with the likes of Suarez, but let's be honest they aren't exactly the best defensively. It's not insane to think that sacrificing one player may be worthwhile to bring in a raft of hugely talented younger guys who could put Barca back on top in Spain.
Obviously no-one knows whether any of this will come to pass, but it's certainly not just stupid talk to think that this could actually happen. Barca can't keep him if he wants to leave (when was the last time that happened with players of this level), and his value is only going to depreciate going forward.
There's your answer then. Bayern are a better team, who play better football, have better chance of winning trophies, and have Guardiola. There wouldn't even be a decision for him to make.
Could they afford him? Would they spend money in that fashion even if they could. I'm not sure they would.
Having said that IMHO there's no more chance of Messi leaving Barcelona that the Pope leaving the Catholic Church. So it's kind of irrelevant
I think some of us are reading too much about Barca's defensive issues. Yes, not the strongest in the world, but working fine this season.
- Lowest goals conceded in the league so far (9 in 18 games). Next is Real with 15 conceded in 17 games.
- Lowest shots conceded (7.2 per game). Next is Atletico with 8.2, Madrid concedes 11.8
2 big games where Barca lost (Madrid/PSG) were mainly due to midfield setup and mostly to do with technical naivety of Enrique. I wouldn't blame the defense much this season for games lost. Major defensive issue for us is Alves forgetting that he needs to defend as well.
- Lowest goals conceded in the league so far (9 in 18 games). Next is Real with 15 conceded in 17 games.
- Lowest shots conceded (7.2 per game). Next is Atletico with 8.2, Madrid concedes 11.8
2 big games where Barca lost (Madrid/PSG) were mainly due to midfield setup and mostly to do with technical naivety of Enrique. I wouldn't blame the defense much this season for games lost. Major defensive issue for us is Alves forgetting that he needs to defend as well.
Except knowing Bayern's history, they are unlikely to make a move for Messi, considering the amount of money it would cost them. Bayern are known to have a tight financial system. This doesn't mean that they're cheap, but they only spend wisely.
Not entirely true, but you have something of a point.
Van Gaal generally likes having just 1 flair player who has a relatively free-role. The example from his Holland team in the summer being Arjen Robben.
Mourinho (a protegé of Van Gaal, of course) likes to do the same - currently Hazard is his flair player, the rest of the team are incredibly well drilled.
You have to assume that Di Maria was bought for this role, but the problem is Van Gaal can't seem to settle on who plays this role - does Rooney play in the hole or (insanely) in CM? Does Mata have something of a free role to float around behind the two strikers? Should Di Maria play the role (I believe) he was bought for, or should he play through the middle...or (insanely) as a CF? You get the drift.
Buying Messi would be fantastic because A. He's Lionel fecking Messi, and B. It would provide absolute clarity to everyone, not least Van Gaal himself, who the 'free man' in the team is!
Everyone else could just get on with their natural position without there being all this chopping and changing of who the luxury player actually is.
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If he demand a move, he will be sold.
No way €250m. Maybe €150m.
He won't ask to leave though...
No way €250m. Maybe €150m.
He won't ask to leave though...
Why was my mega Messi thread closed?
I am sad too. I'll always remember the OP.
Why was my mega Messi thread closed?
Because we're moving away from mega threads in the football forums.
Don't get too excited now lads:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...200m-bid-for-leo-messi-reports-30921299.html?
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...200m-bid-for-leo-messi-reports-30921299.html?
The real question is; how much money would Barca ask for him. IF they dont want to sell him and you have to pay his clause NO ONE can get him. Not in times of FFP and even without that we are talking the world record times 2,5 here.
And he earns more then 20! million euros a year. There are some rich clubs out there; Real, my Bayern and even United with all its debts and wages could go full risk and make such a move. But it would be crazy, you would have to sell big players and the wage structure would explode.
So my question to Spanish football fans. Could we see a move around 130 million max? Then there is a chance.
But 250 million? No way on earth, heaven or hell.
And he earns more then 20! million euros a year. There are some rich clubs out there; Real, my Bayern and even United with all its debts and wages could go full risk and make such a move. But it would be crazy, you would have to sell big players and the wage structure would explode.
So my question to Spanish football fans. Could we see a move around 130 million max? Then there is a chance.
But 250 million? No way on earth, heaven or hell.
Not even a chance at 130m, it won't even force Barca management to think about it.
Maybe some people don't realize how big is Messi in Barca. Here's a small snippet from the Barca website.
Bayern don't have a separate section for any player like this, nor does United or Madrid. Whether it's right or wrong is up for debate, but the fact is he is the most powerful player in Barca and someone who is regarded without any shadow of doubt by the supporters.
130m just won't cut it, **only option** is buyout clause.
Bayern don't have a separate section for any player like this, nor does United or Madrid. Whether it's right or wrong is up for debate, but the fact is he is the most powerful player in Barca and someone who is regarded without any shadow of doubt by the supporters.
130m just won't cut it, **only option** is buyout clause.