Lionel Messi | Joins Inter Miami (pg4111)

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Marvin said:
How safe is the assumption that Messi does not have a release clause in his contract now? The reports on twitter state that the 'release clause expired'. Do contracts of employment work like that? If I have a contract of employment, other than changes due to new employment laws, I would expect it to pretty much invariant. Are these reports correct? It seems strange to me.

I would think release clauses are unusual in standard contracts of employment, but once inserted why would they lapse? Anyone got any thoughts?
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Once he’s into his last season (ie today onwards) then it apparently doesn’t exist any longer.

I think this is why it was quiet for a few days, waiting for the official start of the new 20/21 season.
 
bluetonium said:
Regardless Barcelona have an unhappy player on their hands to deal with. Furthermore, this is their best ever player, a true legend. Damaging his legacy via a sour exit benefits nobody on their end.
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I just can't understand how Barca could be anything other than respectful, grateful and supportive of Messi, considering what he has done and meant for the club.
 
Marvin said:
The Messi of 33 simply can't score the goals that he scored as a 19 year old when he just raced past players. You have to acknowledge that. He is still a fantastic player though. See his goals and assists record from last season. He was once super human, but now he is an outstanding footballer who will add a great deal to City's attacking play.
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You must have missed his super human goal against Napoli a few weeks back.

Also numerous examples this season of Messi racing past players.
 
I thought Balague's article on the BBC web-site was quite a good take on matters although it is rapidly changing as news emerges.

I agree with his comment that if Messi moves on then talented players in the Barcelona side will be able to grow. I actually think it is the case that Messi's presence in the Barcelona team actually inhibits their redevelopment and that Messi moving on would be good for Barcelona. I think their bosses should get to grips with events and start to control it in Barcelona's interest. I thought moving Suarez on and the older players at the end of their contract could actually be a good proactive move but it has to be done openly with the consent of all. That requires good open management and communication. At the moment it appears that Koeman has been sent in to do a hatchet job.

It did cross my mind when Koeman came in and he communicated with players that he was trying to get Messi out (Suarez, comments about no special favours to players etc). I don't know how true that was. Could barca be playing a smarter game than we think i.e. get Messi out but do it on the quiet and at the same time get a fee for him?

I think it is possible to hold a view that Messi moving on can be beneficial for both clubs. It will free Messi from carrying a side to just playing a limited role where his game complements the team.

On a completely unrelated point I think some City fans should be a little bit more realistic about what Messi can produce. I was watching videos of Messi last night, and it's clear that the Messi who broke into the Barcelona side now is different to the Messi that plays now. The one in his mid-20s could just turn on the after-burners with the ball tied to his foot and dribble past players with ease. Those videos are incredible. That is not the Messi I see now. However, he is still a wonderfully gifted player. I think he will be devastating in the final third, and he could also play a central but perhaps more static role in midfield organising a game with his passing. We should have a think about how Pep would make best use of him.
 
Corky said:
Scored 51 18/19. then 31 19/20 - his worst return for 12 years and he isn't getting any younger. Past records mean nothing it is the future and he is well in decline.

A 20 goal decline in a season suggests he is past his best at 33. He is currently a rat leaving a sinking ship and I would kick him as far away as I could, rather than pay his stupid wages which will rip the team apart causing long term damage.
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Most assists he has ever got in the worst team he has ever been in.

Still dribbles past players at will(5 completed from his best season). 182 total, Sterling was our highest with 56.

His worst goalscoring season in 12 years is aguero's second best in his career
 
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Matt the Giant said:
I just can't understand how Barca could be anything other than respectful, grateful and supportive of Messi, considering what he has done and meant for the club.
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I think the fact they are in a mess and didn't win anything doesn't help. They need reinventing and face losing the a lot of their current generation in one go - Messi, Suarez, Pique, Vidal, even Griezeman may go.

That said, although it hurts horribly to watch them go, I will always be immensely proud of the way our club let David, Vinny and Pablo go, Sergio too in his time. True legends,could have done with keeping them another year arguably, but their commitment to the cause, the fact they literally changed our club into winners on the pitch, and have shown a huge love of the club and it's fans, means we let them walk away with all of our love and best wishes for the future, with yet more opportunity open to them once they leave us. And if they come back in some future role, then it will benefit us all.
 
Easy said:
You must have missed his super human goal against Napoli a few weeks back.

Also numerous examples this season of Messi racing past players.
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I think he is still has wonderful creative talents but the player I watched in the Champions League was not the dashing Messi of 19. He uses his vision, and close control but the runs from half-way line where he slices through half a field with defenders trailing seem to be a thing of his past.

That does not mean that he is not capable of devastating a packed defence with a moment of magic. The stats show that he is still a creative player with a lot of goals left in his game but can we just discuss Messi reasonably? He is not super-human, but nor is he Alexis Sanchez Mk II.
 
DeBruyneWaterInMeEToilet said:
Just salivating at the thought of the domino effect this’ll cause for future transfers (& perhaps even current negotiations for Koulibaly). Pep was already a massive lure for many of our top-tier signings already, but then you add 2-3 years of Messi on top of that? Lord have mercy.

Should hopefully be pretty easy to temp our next Agüero replacement, because who wouldn’t want to be the striker for the club that’ll have Messi & KDB feeding them all day. Ideally it’ll be Mbappe & hope another CL-less season will him have looking for greener pastures. Though worth noting he does have the Euros next year which might make his value go up considering his & France’s form, & his contract also runs out in 2022.

Also we might be the next Inter in terms of drawing from Argentina. Already had Pablo, Otamendi (when he wasn’t useless), Agüero & now Messi. Might gain some massive popularity in Argentina for a good while & gain some interest from the next-generation of Argentine wonder-kids. Agüero & Messi scoring goals for fun on local TV? Sounds pretty fucking great.

Aside from that, we have 3 weeks until our season begins & I really hope this doesn’t drag for another 2 weeks since it’ll also hamper our Koulibaly talks. Ideally we get Koulibaly next week & get him ready to integrate into Pep’s system for a good while before the season starts.

Same obviously goes for Messi. Of course Messi & Pep have a great working relationship, but Pep has also adjusted his methods a lot since his Barca days, so Messi isn’t just going to slot into whatever position like it’s the good-old days. Plus, our opening group of fixtures will be tough as hell. Wolves (a), Lei (H), Leeds (a), Arsenal (H). Messi will quite literally be thrown to the wolves in his first couple of games, vs teams that have caused us all sort of problems last season. Thankfully no crowds though, so maybe the pressure will be greatly reduced.

Regardless, it’ll be a wholly new system for Messi & we need to give him as much time to get acquainted in the city with his family, with Pep’s system, the players, the club staff, etc. He’ll need as much of the pre-season for that to take effect & have him be comfortable as possible in his role on the field (& the players with him as well). If this ends up being a long, bitter legal battle with Barca, he’ll likely have very little time to settle in all those ways I mentioned. So while I have no doubt he’ll break all sorts of records this season, there’ll be a lot of pressure in those first couple of games to be the same-old Messi & those first four fixtures might very well shape our season imo.
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I agree with the majority of your post but don’t think Messi will have any problem at all slotting right in to the team. Messi has scored countless goals against us, Chelsea, rags, Arsenal etc so Wolves, Leicester and Leeds will not be an issue. He’s the best player in world football.
 
Corky said:
If everything goes through him - but he is far too expensive and will be bad for moral. E.g. Taking penalties that he often misses.

If he was a £150k for 2 year deal I would be all for it, but he will be getting 10 x that and it isn't worth it.
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I'm not sure I see him coming here and being Billy Big bollocks like that tbh. Pep's philosophy is about sacrifice for the team ethic. I think he'll get his head down and focus on contributing as much as he can to the team.

I definitely disagree about his impact on morale. The chance to play with him will have been a childhood dream for every player, they will feel invincible with him in the squad.
 
Easy said:
I agree with the majority of your post but don’t think Messi will have any problem at all slotting right in to the team. Messi has scored countless goals against us, Chelsea, rags, Arsenal etc so Wolves, Leicester and Leeds will not be an issue. He’s the best player in world football.
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I am not sure that he is the best player in world football but ranking him as No. 1 or no. 5 is not really that useful. What I do not like is this portrayal of Messi as some timeless God. Clearly the Messi at 33 is not the Messi of 19 who terrorised players by sprinting through defences with the ball tied to his feet. I had forgotten just how amazing he was.

Now we have a more cerebral Messi. The slalom runs are still there. I saw one run against Bayern Munich but the acceleration is not there. The fantastic technique though and vision is there.
 
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