Sounds like he's getting ready to come to City in Jan then
He'd fit right in no?
It's a strange stretch for Messi since he has been so clinical historically. My take is that he is simply bearing the burden too much on scoring, especially with an ineffective Griezmann, Ansu sidelined and Dembele once again nursing an injury - either way, he remains the primary scoring option
Of course, he has almost always been in that position but now there are few others really converting chances. It's a rhythm thing too so perhaps once the team clicks more, he will convert more. The troubling sign I noticed was how far off even his fks have been as well. I figured it was a mental thing but overall he looked quite comfortable & active