Lionel Messi | Joins Inter Miami (pg4111)

[BillyShears]

I like Gab Marcotti. I regularly listen to the Times football podcast and he generally knows his shit. However like a lot of journalists he still views football in very traditional terms with regards it's power structure. His piece above is riddled with flaws, but then when you get paid by the word I suppose it's a small price to pay. He suggest there's no indication that Messi isn't happy. This despite the shenanigans last season with his contract, him being booed by the Camp Nou, and generally cutting a very sullen figure on the pitch. Fast forward to this season and the last week - again no indication that Messi is unhappy despite his interview while on international duty basically saying that there was no guarantee he'd stay at Barca beyond the end of the season. He's not unhappy despite skipping training, falling out with Luis Enrique, and hating the board of directors.

He uses the transfer ban as a compelling argument for why Barca wouldn't sell - yet he doesn't really acknowledge that Suarez was bought precisely because the transfer ban was hanging over them. He doesn't acknowledge that from a sporting point of view, Barca are already hugely weakened and frankly, why would Messi, the best player ever, want to stay at a club where he won't win anything for the foreseeable future unless he pretty much wins it singlehandedly.

He dismisses Chelsea and City's capacity to sign him with a flaccid couple of sentences about FFP. Is he not aware that City (and PSG) will be operating without sanctions from this summer? Also has he not thought about the notion of even larger sponsorship deals to be had as City grow?

Anyway i'm sure there'll be loads of op/eds like this written between now and the summer. The most laughable thing is I suspect everyone is going to take the angle "the only clubs who can afford Messi are Bayern and United".

 

[gazzaa2]

When was Messi booed? What game? I think this might be a myth.

 

[BillyShears]

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.marca.com/2014/05/18/en/football/barcelona/1400409215.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.marca.com/2014/05/18/en/foot ... 09215.html</a>

 

[squirtyflower]

http://www.marca.com/2014/05/18/en/football/barcelona/1400409215.html

Isn't the Marca the mouthpiece of Madrid?

 

[Deleted member 58678]

That article is horrible, utterly horrible. Guy is supposed to be a football finance expert yet doesn't seem to know the difference between structuring payments and amortisation. Also no discussion of the potential revenue boost from signing someone like Messi. Let's hope he's been horribly misquoted as that level of stupidity from someone who's regularly quoted in the media is inexcusable.

I think though the Messi effect is still overstated. We are saying that Messi will repay his transfer himself in revenue but this is near on impossible over the length of his contract. Here is an example, according to figures between 2009-2014, Real Madrid sold on average 1.5M shirts a year, that is £105M a year at our shirt prices. The latest figures I can find on us is we sold on average in 2012, 250,000. Extrapolate that figure a little, call it 400,000 for 2014. Now is Messi really going to bring in 1.1M extra shirt sales to be comparable to Real Madrid, I highly doubt it, plus I'm sure Nike gets a cut of that figure anyway as they make the shirts. I'm afraid it is simply impossible to make enough money to 'repay' his transfer over any contract length, yes there would be a boost but it would seriously effect the way in which the club is growing without even thinking of passing FFP. Imagine us being hit with a £150M debt, it would set us back years of what has been so far, amazing progress.

Again our revenue last year totaled £346M, that includes sponsorship, shirt sales, everything. Now Messi is going to cost us lets face it at least £140/150M, probably more, and then we have to factor in he would have to be on pretty much the biggest wage in the world. That is almost 50% of turnover on a single player. Yes it will not all be paid at once and for purposes of FFP, we might get away with it but at what cost would this be to the rest of the team? This transfer would prevent us sustaining reinforcing our existing squad for quite sometime and I don't know about you but we are slowly but surely getting to the point where several key players are going to be past their prime. On football, Messi is also unproven in this league and we just do not know if he would turn up here and set the league on fire, to be honest he would have no choice but to do so, again the risk is there.

I'm afraid anyone thinking this transfer could happen is not thinking but is dreaming. The only clubs that can afford Messi are the ones that have huge spending power through their massive turnovers, a club like that could simply make way for the wages and use the actual cash they have made to make the buy. A perfect example is Real Madrid who historically can sign big because they have the massive cash flow to enable it. We unfortunately just do not make enough money to pay for it without the Sheikh having to step in which would almost certainly attract the attention of UEFA.

Barcelona remember too are also in a very good bargaining position, they do not want to sell him so they will strip us for every pound they can make should it happen. It would not surprise me if this transfer meant losing Silva or someone else in the future as well seeing as they can't sign anyone to replace Messi. That means this deal will not be cheap, it will be extremely expensive and at the end of the day would it be worth it? Neymar was a similar large deal going to Barcelona and it cost the president his job and also Barcelona's chance to really spend on reinforcing their squad. They are now in tatters, not thanks to that deal but because they failed to manage their resources effectively for the good of an aging, spent team.

I ask, why do we need Lionel Messi. We have a decent enough squad right now and £150M (if it were available) would be far better spent elsewhere on a group of top quality players in several positions where they are needed. Messi coming here would make shockwaves, no doubt but to what consequence to our incredible financial progress and also to the football?

Anyway, we have just paid £30M for Bony, we will not be signing Messi anytime soon nor anytime in the future and certainly not whilst the accountants are in charge.

I agree with a lot of that.

Although revenue streams, other than shirt sales, would all increase. We'd almost certainly see a new shirt deal with Nike because the current one is nowhere near what we need. It's not even double what QPR get and nowhere near Arsenal or United's. Then you'd have new sponsors wanting to get on board as they'd love to be seen with their name associated with Messi. And also you'd have to expect CL improvements and maybe even a win?even a few semi finals would smash what we've received from the competition so far. We'd earn a great deal from winning more trophies overall. Plus the Premier League rights keep going up every year, the money we earn from that is astronomical (it's one of the biggest revenue streams we get now).

All that being said, you are spot on with what you say on the hinderance to the rest of the squad. It may very well mean we lose someone as influential to the side as Silva and you have to see that by the time the season is out Yaya will be is 32, Zaba 30, Kompany 29, Silva 29, Fernandinho 30 and, apart from Kun and Nasri, that's all of our best players. That's going to be a fucking shit load of money that needs to be spent to replace them in the next two to four years.

The thing is as well. Barça will sack their manager and overthrow their board before selling Messi. And when they do that Messi will be more content there and would likely not even consider leaving them.

 

[BillyShears]

http://www.marca.com/2014/05/18/en/football/barcelona/1400409215.html

Isn't the Marca the mouthpiece of Madrid?

It is indeed. They didn't make it up though, they just took great glee in reporting it. Wasn't the only time it happened last season either.

 

[squirtyflower]

http://www.marca.com/2014/05/18/en/football/barcelona/1400409215.html

Isn't the Marca the mouthpiece of Madrid?

It is indeed. They didn't make it up though, they just took great glee in reporting it. Wasn't the only time it happened last season either.

I'm not disagreeing as I haven't watched the games so I don't have the evidence

It's just that real were a little pissed that Atheleti took the title and Barca far from helped, hence let's pour scorn on Barca
I trust the two main Spanish papers as much as I trust Mourinho

 

[SPIDERBOY]

85% of the fans in this poll think it's time to sell.......could be madrid fans though.

Leo Messi has again become the main protagonist of today's Barcelona . The Argentine is used to grab the spotlight and covers usual, but this time, it is not the focus or their goals or their big plays with the ball at his feet and another by something much less pleasant: its problems with Luis Enrique . The front and Rijkaard live a difficult moment in their relationship is nonexistent and where even already beginning to put on the table the possibility that the Argentine star left the team.
Readers of The Confidential is clear what should the Barcelona with Messi: It's time to sell. This follows from the results reported in the survey conducted by this means , in which more than 4,000 votes (85%) believe it is time that the Argentine leave, compared with 800 (15%) who consider Messi must stay in the club. Barca, with inability to sign for the sanction of FIFA, and knowing that there will be elections at the end of the season, knows he could have a graver problem with the star of Barça.

 

[pudge]

So the Nou Camp crowd gave Messi a bit of abuse last season.

We wouldn't be able to field a team each week if that was grounds for a transfer.

 

[baildon blue]

Would love it if he came to CITY .
Just think Fair play bollocks will scupper any Messi transfer to CITY !!!