I think it's a step backwards and my post sums up my opinion on it. In light of your argument, would you sign fake Ronaldo if he was available (and if he wasn't a rag)?
Personally I don't get why people still want us to sign him.
He's at the stage where he's past his peak
and pretty soon he'll dwindle down into a less important player.
Yes he's the best the player in the world and yes he's probably the best there has ever been,
but signing him for £100+ when he's nearing the twilight of his career and hoping he performs at the same level for us is a huge gamble.
Is it really worth displacing our current talent to shoehorn in the finished article for a couple of seasons?
We've made so much progress why would we resort to trying to prove we're the big boys by signing the guy we've hopelessly chased for so many years?
But we're not the up-and-comer anymore, we're an established European side and we'll continue to get better without spunking loads of money, unnecessararily, on the huge name signing to prove we're top dogs.
We have great kids and they are the future,stunting their progress would not be a great thing,so it's a no from me
I never thought I'd see the day when I wouldn't want us to sign Messi but today is that day.
I'm sure he could do a job short term but that's not really where we're at is it?
Would be a coup to get Messi but in all honesty the money needs to be spent on our defence and a replacement for Yaya.
fake Ronaldo isn't in the same league as Messi, that's without even getting into discussion about how ideal Messi is for Pep's game. Further, fake Ronaldo actually IS showing marked deterioration in his game. He doesn't look as sharp or capable as he used to, and he wins Ballon d'Ors as representatives of Real, not an individual.
In short: no. Neither would Pep. But Messi? Yes.
30 games played
33 goals scored
6 assists
2.1 key passes per game
81% overall pass completion percentage
I have no idea either.
You're going to need to back up this outlandish claim with evidence.
"pretty soon" assures Bluemoon poster's crystal ball.
How soon? 2 years? 3 years? 4?
Is he a better player than big nose at the rags? Think he can't play at a high level as long as that bellend? Honest question.
You see, this is where you've gotten mixed up. He's the best player in the world and potentially the best ever. Not "world class", not "real talent", not "amazing player". He's the best.
He has no paragon, nobody has come along and done, and done so consistently, what Messi has done. You admit he's in a league of one, potentially in the history of the sport, yet assume he'll follow a trajectory that means he'll be a less effective, younger, pint-sized Yaya Toure. Basically, you don't know what you're talking about.
How is it a gamble? He's not Wilfried fucking Bony. He's a known commodity.
Further, as has been argued here, he pays for himself.
That's for Pep to decide, ultimately.
But let's look at your question another way: "Is it really worth having the best team with the best chance of success when we can play players who aren't as good?" Ok.
Strawman.
So how about this, what if he becomes available and Pep wants him? Feels he will be an invaluable asset to the team, as you'd imagine the best player in the world would be, and can help our current talent grow? What if it's not about trying to prove we are top dog, but actually being top dog with the top players?
.
I was taking your post seriously until you started being condescending so I'd appreciate it if you stopped being a nob.
You're using stats to show he's not deteriorating, fair enough,
but you're failing to realise that even though he's one in a million as a footballer, he's still a human and not some mythical creature who's capable of defying the laws of time and age.
You can look at 1000s of footballers and you can draw parallels from them and agree that around the age of 30, give or take a few years, is when players start to deteriorate.
And just because right now he isn't showing signs of slowing down, that doesn't mean that next season he won't suddenly plummet as a player and we've seen that first hand in Demi and Zaba (obviously not as talented as Messi before you start, I'm just using them as an example).
Even then, do you expect him to get those kind of stats over here?
That is only part of my argument for not signing him. Let's say we do sign him. He would need time to settle in, get to know his team mates and although he knows Pep, we are not the same Barcelona side Messi played in, so he would have to adapt to that too.
Then what if there is an injury?
It's common knowledge that the premier league is more physical than it's Spanish counterpart. Could he deal with being smothered by a Pulis style defence? Even a Shawcross leg break is a possibility and how does a player at the age of 30 come back from that?
Also imagine the field day the papers and social media would have if he didn't hit the ground running. The media on these shores are unforgiving, soul sucking arseholes and they'd stick a ton of pressure on him to live up to whatever fee he'd go for and although he's used to pressure, this would be another challenge for him and again that's something that he'd have to adapt to.
Look at him for Argentina, has he been the same player he is at Barca? No. There are glimpses of his talent but he's never pulled up trees for his national side. Couldn't it be possible that the world beating superstar that is Lionel Messi is only that good for Barcalona?
Tell you what let's stick £100m in his club's bank and find out seeing as you're so sure.
"Stop being condescending, you nob"
Ok.
That it?
His 33 goals and 6 assists in 30 games this season proves quite conclusively he isn't deteriorating, that should really be the end of the discussion but I see you intend to just ignore it and carry on.
What does this strawman argument have to do with what we are discussing?
Similarly, you can look at many footballers that have continued at a high level into their middle thirties and beyond.
But none of them are Lionel Messi.
I don't even know what to say about this. Honestly. You've just used Martin Demachellis and Pablo Zabaleta as an argument that Messi could plummet as a player next season.
Pure insanity.
So he's not the best in the world then? Make your mind up.
Either he's the best ever or he's good because Barca is good and he ride the blaugrana wave on the seas of an easy league to high individual stats each year.
FWIW, he's proven he can do the business against Prem teams quite consistently too. This season alone he's put four goals in two games past a premier league team, I shouldn't even need to tell you which.
You mean, like every signing ever?
Are you suggesting Messi isn't talented enough to perform almost instantly? Like say, Gabriel Jesus did?
He'll recover and still be Lionel Messi?
This is so bizarre, honestly.
I have an idea: Won't be long til Kun Aguero turns 30, we should dump him just in case Ryan fucking Shawcross breaks his leg and ends his career, yeah?
Sorry to be condescending mate, honest, but this is such a weak argument for not signing the best player in the world that I don't even know where to begin.
We get scrutinised by the media whether good or bad, it doesn't matter and it shouldn't change that we should be consistently looking to have the best team with the best chance of success that we can get.
Ok pick one:
1. Lionel Messi is the best player in the world and potentially the history of football
2. Lionel Messi is only good for Barcelona
Alright, here's where the bullshit ends.
My opinion, your opinion, completely irrelevant. It doesn't matter whether you rate him, or don't as the case seems to be, or if I'm sure that he's worth the money. What matters is, does Pep Guardiola want Lionel Messi? Does Pep Guardiola think he can get the best out of Lionel Messi? Does Pep Guardiola think Lionel Messi would help us get to the next stage as a team and club?
If the answer to those questions is yes, and, Messi leaves Camp Nou (I don't think he will) then we are getting Lionel Messi, the best player in the world, and sticking £100m or more in his club's bank, Shawcross and Pulis be damned.
Let me make it clearer for you. Messi is the greatest player to have ever lived when he is playing for Barcalona.
Nobody knows if he can replicate that for another club but we can look at how he's played for Argentina. He's done okay, nothing special. So there are two sides of that, he fits in well at Barca because it's a system that is tailor made for him and can he do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke.
You can argue all you like and make out that my argument is redundant but how on earth can you not admit that age isn't on his side?
Let me make it clearer for you: Either Messi is, individually, the greatest player to have ever lived by his own merits, talent and potential, or his success is thanks to Blaugrana.
Fuck me, it's the "can Pep Guardiola succeed in the Premier League/cold rainy night in Stoke" discussion all over again.
We have a manager who can get the best out of Messi. Messi's best is something this club would invest an unlimited number to capture in a bottle.
Age isn't on anyone's side. Should we shed Aguero and Silva cause age isn't on their side? Should Barcelona shed Messi and Suarez because age isn't on their side?
I maintain if big nose is still the player he is for the rags at 35 then Messi can continue to be the player he is to that age and beyond. And you know what? His stats show he's actually only getting better.
Messi can still be the best player in the world without transferring his talent to his national side. But yeah it's clear to see that the system Barca has gets the best out of him and that's why he is regarded as the best player in the world despite his shortcomings for Argentina. My point is would he be able to replicate that for the next couple of years in a more physical league while his body could potentially be dwindling?
Nobody is saying Pep can't get the best out of him but for the fee he'd demand and the fact that he will be 30 in the summer makes this signing questionable.
Not to mention that we've signed players who the club must see as long term additions in the position he would play.
Our transfer strategy since Pep came in looks as if we're targeting the next Messi, someone who could be the heir to his throne.
With Sterling and Sane, that's £81m worth of young talent and we're starting to reap the rewards of that. Throw in our new 19 year old striker, isn't age on their side? We could potentially have a strike force of those three for the next ten years, why rock the boat by signing Messi?
To say we should sell Silva and Aguero because of their age is ridiculous and I'm not suggesting that in the slightest. These are players we brought in at a great age and we watched them build the start of our new chapter as a club. These are players that we are still getting use out of 5/6 years after we signed them.
Football is a cycle and players come and go, I just feel that if we signed Messi it'd be a stop gap
and I guarantee if Barca sold him to us they'd go out and buy someone who isn't 30 to replace him. Why not just sign the person they'd be after and utilise them for a longer, more cost effective time?
Indeed.Would be a coup to get Messi but in all honesty the money needs to be spent on our defence and a replacement for Yaya.